


Love Me Like A Current **ON PAUSE ATM**

by cabbagepatchb1tch



Series: Merman Jimin [1]
Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Bottom Jeon Jungkook, Chef Kim Seokjin | Jin, Doctor Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Domestic Bliss, Established Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Jeon Jungkook is a Little Shit, Kim Taehyung | V is Whipped, Light Angst, M/M, Merman Park Jimin, Mild Gore, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, Multi, Park Jimin (BTS) is a Little Shit, Pirate Kim Namjoon | RM, Pirate Kim Seokjin | Jin, Pirate Kim Taehyung | V, Pirate Min Yoongi | Suga, Polyamory, Prince Jeon Jungkook, Sharing a Bed, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Switch Park Jimin (BTS), Swordfighting, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Top Kim Taehyung | V, kookmin, taekook, these boys are too cute for their own good, vkook, vmin - Freeform, vminkook
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:00:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24399145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cabbagepatchb1tch/pseuds/cabbagepatchb1tch
Summary: Jungkook didn’t think life could get much weirder than it had already gotten. Never once had he dreamed that he’d one day join a handsome crew of pirates, nor that they would treat him like a prince even after the boy had been “stolen” away from his kingdom and territory. The reason for the quotations there is because maybe, potentially, perhaps Jungkook wasn’t taken completely against his own will. No, in fact, all it had taken was the pirate captain’s mesmerizing smile and whispered promises of exciting adventure and life on the high seas that made Jungkook run away from the castle one day, sailing away merrily on a boat filled with looting, thieving pirates.(Or: Jungkook wants adventure and doesn't get much of that living the life of a prince, so when handsome pirate captain Taehyung offers for him to join his pirate crew, he's heavily inclined to say yes. One day Jungkook notices that their ship is being tailed. Literally. Jimin is a merman that begins following their ship, friendships bloom, and feelings are developed.)
Relationships: Jeon Jungkook & Kim Taehyung | V, Jeon Jungkook & Park Jimin, Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V, Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V/Park Jimin, Jung Hoseok | J-Hope/Min Yoongi | Suga, Kim Namjoon | RM/Kim Seokjin | Jin, Kim Taehyung | V & Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung | V/Park Jimin
Series: Merman Jimin [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1762462
Comments: 13
Kudos: 84





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title by The All American Rejects song Drown Next To Me

Jungkook didn’t think life could get much weirder than it had already gotten. Never once had he dreamed that he’d one day join a handsome crew of pirates, nor that they would treat him like a prince even after the boy had been “stolen” away from his kingdom and territory. The reason for the quotations there is because maybe, potentially, perhaps Jungkook wasn’t taken completely against his own will. No, in fact, all it had taken was the pirate captain’s mesmerizing smile and whispered promises of exciting adventure and life on the high seas that made Jungkook run away from the castle one day, sailing away merrily on a boat filled with looting, thieving pirates. But that was neither here nor there, that was history of years ago -- three years to be precise. Which may not sound like a lot, but Jungkook will tell you that it had sure _felt_ like a lot.

____

____

Life had continued to be unexpected since then, just as the pirate captain had promised. Jungkook wasn’t an idiot, he knew that agreeing to come aboard a shipful of pirates ought to mean he’d simply be one of them now -- and he was -- but not exactly in the sense that he’d expected. He’d come to learn that the whole ship was like a family, not just an efficiently-run team, but a force to be reckoned with, the dangerous intimidation of them doubled with their motivation to protect one another at all costs. Jungkook wondered what his precise role in the family was, blushing at the realization that he was probably somewhat of the baby of the crew. Back on his first day, the pirate captain had welcomed him aboard and introduced him to the crew with pride. Since then, he’d ensured that Jungkook was treated with nothing but the utmost consideration and respect. The crew had taken him in as one of their own without hesitation, although one difference remained in which they always handled him with a gentle consideration, that was unlike how they did with any other member. That had been another surprising thing about his newfound pirate life -- the civility of his shipmates. Jungkook couldn’t help but compare their decorum to that of Robin Hood’s Merry Men, outcast, outlawed, yet polite and gentlemanly. He chuckled, imagining his friends in ridiculous green tights and caps like Robin Hood’s. 

The sound drew the attention of the pirate captain, the man glancing over to Jungkook from where he stood at the wheel next to the navigator as they discussed routes. He smirked at Jungkook and the younger felt himself blush, turning away hastily, looking back into the deep blue waters visible over the side of the railing.

That’s when he saw _it_. 

Or, maybe, more accurately, _him_.

Had this been three days ago, Jungkook would’ve brushed it off as a trick of the light playing off of the waves. Had this been two days ago, he would’ve looked curiously at the water to try and glimpse the mysterious flash of colors again. Had this been yesterday, he would’ve sworn it was a big fish. Today, he knew that it simply wasn’t any of those things. No, this was too many times in a row to be coincidence or anything of unimportance. 

Jungkook spun around and called out to the captain in alarm. He looked over the side of the ship to make sure that _thing_ \-- no, that _he_ \-- hadn’t disappeared, and he hadn’t. When he turned to see that the captain had paid him absolutely no mind, Jungkook tried again in a whiny demanding tone he knew the man always responded to. “Taehyung!” 

__

__

____

____

And sure as the day, it worked, and Taehyung looked up at Jungkook. “What is it, Jungkookie?” He asked patiently. But Jungkook was no longer glaring at him. His gaze was fixated on the water, body and eyes unmoving, hands gripping the rail tightly. Taehyung waved the navigator away absentmindedly and walked over to the rail to stare into the sea, looking for whatever had caught the young prince’s attention.

It was unmissable. There, gliding just under the surface of the water, was a large and shimmering purple tail -- much too big to be a part of a regular fish, the color much too vibrant to be a dolphin, shark, or squid. More than all of this, the top half of it was far too _human _for the creature to be considered wholly fish. The ship captain came to the same conclusion that the prince did seconds earlier.__

____

____

It was a merman.

“Hey, Kookie, who’s your friend?” Taehyung asked in quiet fascination, almost as if he was afraid he’d spook the creature swimming along in tandem with the boat if he spoke any louder.

“I don’t know,” Jungkook replied just as softly. He started to slowly move along the rail, eyes never leaving the merman, afraid that if he looked away for even a moment that he’d never see him again. It was true that this wasn’t the first time he’d seen the creature, as it had returned everyday for the past few days, but he wasn’t looking to test fate, okay? 

Taehyung allowed Jungkook to keep his whole focus on the entity and wrapped one arm around his waist to steady the boy as they made their way down the stairs to the lower deck to get a closer look. The two made it to the lower deck, getting a few strange looks from some of the crew as they did, but they all just passed it off as the captain and his prince off in their own world again. That happened often enough that the crew was simply accustomed to it at this point. 

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think anything of it, but this isn’t the first time I’ve seen… him.” Jungkook admitted, barely moving his lips as he spoke.

“You think he’s been following the boat?” Taehyung mused aloud. Jungkook shrugged unsurely in response, knowing that Taehyung was close enough to feel the movement. 

“This is the fourth day in a row, so… yes, perhaps.”

Taehyung sucked in a breath at Jungkook’s second admission.

The prince chanced a glance at the taller boy to gauge his expression and couldn’t find it within himself to regret it when he saw the wonderment sparkling in Taehyung’s eyes the same way those purple scales sparkled underneath the water. “Have you ever seen one before?” He asked, gaze back on the merman.

“Never, and I’ve only ever known one man to have supposedly seen one before. Unfortunately, I only knew the damned aristocrat for a brief time because I was stealing from him. He wasn’t telling tales of mermaids or mermen when my sword was driven through his gut.” The captain offered in answer to the younger’s question.

Jungkook’s expression must’ve given away his mild disgust at the short story’s ending because he felt Taehyung’s breath fluttering against his shoulder as the older boy chuckled, muttering a distracted “cute,” before they both froze, breaths halting, when the creature jumped out of the water, diving back in just as quickly as it had surfaced.

What kept the boys from inhaling anytime soon after was the unmistakable gesture the merman had presented. He’d fucking _winked _at them. Directly at them. Jungkook reached for the captain’s right hand, gripping it tightly in his own right hand, as the captain’s left hand was currently preoccupied with sitting on Jungkook’s left hip. The captain squeezed back just as tightly, their hands keeping them grounded as the exhilaration made their heads feel deprived of oxygen, up in the atmosphere.__

____

____

“D’you,” Jungkook choked on his own words, and gulped heavily, starting again. “D’you think maybe he could be watching us just as we’re watching him?”

The two turned to look at each other, making eye contact immediately. Taehyung had a fierce look in his eyes and grinned wide at Jungkook’s musement, the thought visibly exciting him. Jungkook felt himself smiling back uncontrollably, wondering if he looked as wild as the boy he was wrapped up in.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally figured out how to add chapters!  
> This one is MUCH longer than the last and is a bit slow at the start, but I promise it picks up lmao
> 
> Enjoy :)

As a young boy, Jungkook always had his head in the clouds. This hadn’t changed as he grew older, much to his mother’s chagrin. His father found it endearing up until a certain age, until he gradually waited longer and longer for his son to assume more responsibility. The king thanked his lucky stars and the gods above that his son wasn’t next in line and had a few brothers in line to take the throne ahead of him. Otherwise, he would’ve been much more concerned, but in all honesty it was nice to be able to let at least one of their children indulge in normal childhood antics. Still, he wasn’t a normal child, he was a prince. Jungkook was often caught in a daydream, whether he was in his private tutoring sessions, at a banquet, at the dinner table, meeting foreign ambassadors -- you get the picture. 

Taehyung had understood him immediately. He, himself, was similar in that respect, thirsting for thrill and creating entertainment when there was none. The only difference was that he’d had so much space to grow and indulge these fantasies, a million opportunities his for the taking, which he took without hesitation. Jungkook had only had the space to grow his imagination, making him perfect to be introduced into the lifestyle of a pirate, considering all of this unlocked potential sitting dormant within him. 

Unlocking these potentials quickly grew to become one of Taehyung’s favorite pastimes. There was something thrilling in of itself, just watching Jungkook experiment with weapons, teaching the younger boy to let loose, swinging around a sharp sword as long as his own arm. That seemed to be Jungkook’s weapon of choice. He found the handgun didn’t allow as much control as he preferred to have. Daggers meant close combat and Jungkook was way too inexperienced to be comfortable with that just yet. Spears were rarely used on the ship during battle and Jungkook could understand why as he found them to be nothing but tedious. The swords -- now those were perfect. 

Jungkook had grown quite fond of one sword in particular, one that had been sitting in neglect in the far corner of the weaponry. Once Jungkook had given it a little TLC it had become so shiny and impressive that it rivaled Taehyung’s own sword. A good thing too, seeing as the two were caught in combat with each other every other day whenever the captain had time, honing Jungkoook’s skills. Among other things he’d been taught when he was living in the palace, fencing was something he excelled at, and while that got the basics out of the way for them, Taehyung wanted the boy to be able to defend himself at all costs. And, well, who better to teach him than the best swordsman on the seven seas?

Normally they were up bright and early most mornings of the week to practice sparring -- that wasn’t unusual. What _was_ unusual was these sparring sessions being interrupted by a struggling merman caught in their fishing net. In fact, you could even say that it was so rare that it was a one time occurrence. Because it was.

~

Taehyung awoke with a bunch of hair in his mouth. His first conscious thought was that it was time he had Hobi give him a haircut again, but then realized that the hair invading his space wasn’t his own. Chuckling softly at the realization, he brought one hand up to delicately pull Jungkook’s dark locks away from his mouth. 

He allowed himself a few moments to gaze fondly upon the boy before he regretfully shook him awake. “Jungkookie, you have training to be done today,” Taehyung spoke softly to the boy. Jungkook whined petulantly and Taehyung counted it as a win to have even received a response at all. “C’mon now, don’t be like that, I cleared my whole day just for you. Suga’s taking over the books so that I can spend the day teaching you how to do something the rest of the crew already knew how to when I took them aboard,” He teased, speaking with his lips pressed to the juncture between Jungkook’s jaw and ear. He felt Jungkook shiver and inhale sharply from where he lay atop of Taehyung. He smiled, knowing with certainty that Jungkook was wide awake now. 

He removed Jungkook from his comfortable spot laying over his chest and rose, throwing a shirt over his head mindlessly. “I’ll give you ten minutes to meet me on the deck, and not a moment later.” He warned.

Jungkook knew better than to be late for the captain, had learned the difficult way what the consequence was for being disobedient to a direct order (not to say that he hadn't secretly _enjoyed_ the punishment). Climbing the stairs leading from the captain’s quarters to the deck above, he struggled to see the steps in the barely present sunlight. He cursed the taller boy for always rising so early, sometimes before the sun itself, and forcing Jungkook along with him. 

He grumbled about it until they were up to a few hours into rehearsing his stances and defenses, the sun not even halfway across the sky yet. Jungkook’s complaints were testament to how the boy was too comfortable and careless when sparring with the captain, too trusting that the other wouldn’t dare harm him. He wasn’t taking this seriously. Taehyung knew that if there was any real sense of danger, Jungkook would be forced out of his head, made to focus and reach his full potential. He could see it there, lingering on the surface of each of his movements, but his strokes were too languid, his footwork too calculated, posture too perfect. Jungkook was still thinking with the mind of a prince despite being in a sword fight against a pirate. 

_Well, this just won’t do,_ Taehyung decided. He gave one final push of his sword against Jungkook’s, but Jungkook held it steady just as Taehyung expected him to, creating a dilemma for himself when Taehyung withdrew quickly to swing at his middle, catching Jungkook off-guard. 

The younger boy gasped and stumbled, bending backward just in time. The tip of the sword swung over his midsection and Jungkook righted himself in time to dodge another attack. He grit his teeth as he pushed the other boy back, reaching his foot out to trip Taehyung onto his back. Taehyung stepped over the outstretched limb easily and grinned, amused by the bold move. Jungkook grunted in frustration and Taehyung took advantage of the younger’s surprise to knock his sword out of his hand and across the deck.

“Now imagine I’m a naval officer!” Taehyung smiled widely, approaching Jungkook with slow, casual steps. Jungkook stood his ground but Taehyung could see the dawning realization in the other’s eyes. “D’you think he’d go easy on you like I just did-”

“That was _easy_?”

“-or do you think that perhaps there should be less grumbling in the morning when I wake you up to practice?” Taehyung continued, voice dipping lower with each word. “Because this,” He waved his sword in a line downwards, gesturing vaguely to Jungkook. “Just won’t do.” He tsked. 

Jungkook pouted at him, about to say something, when shouting coming from behind Taehyung cut him off. His eyes caught on something over the captain's shoulder and widened impossibly large. He pushed at Taehyung’s shoulder urgently, trying in vain to get him to turn around. “Tae, Tae, what are they doing-”

Taehyung turned. “It would seem your friend has returned,” Was all that he said before racing across the deck to the fishing lines, Jungkook following closely. “What’s going on?” The captain demanded.

Eunwoo was startled and jumped, the net jolting upward briefly with him. Tangled and tossing in their largest fishing net was the purple-tailed merman from two days prior. The other two lifting the long transparent seine looked toward the captain, trying, but failing to express their wonderment.

A loud voice called over the three sputtering crewmates, “You’re going to hurt him!” Four pairs of eyes moved toward Jungkook in shock. “Well, what are you doing?! Release him!” He shouted urgently, moving to support the violently thrashing body caught in the net so that the merman wasn’t just suspended in midair uncomfortably. Eunwoo and the other two turned to the captain for guidance.

“You heard the man.” Taehyung chided quietly, granting Jungkook’s demands authority. His mind was racing a mile a minute. He knew nothing of merfolk, and their reputation was muddled between extremely positive and incredibly negative. It was impossible to tell if he was dangerous, harmless, or anywhere in between, but Taehyung knew that more than anything, he trusted Jungkook’s intuition. It had gotten them the upper hand in too many instances to count ever since the young prince had been brought aboard. 

The three gently lowered the merman onto the deck. Jungkook lunged for Taehyung’s thigh, snatching the dagger that he knew was strapped to the raven haired boy’s upper leg. Taehyung blushed at the boldness of his actions, but understood the boy’s intentions immediately and let him take the small blade. 

Jungkook moved quickly in cutting the merman free and Kang Seulgi bent forward to help quicken the process, her own blade drawn, her gifted hands working skillfully. She was in charge of the ropes and rigging and Taehyung wondered vaguely what she was doing over by the fishing lines. Perhaps Eunwoo had called for help once he’d realized what was happening, hence the shouting from earlier and the increasing crew members crowding around them. Crowding very near, in fact. Jungkook noticed this too, and all it took was a desperate look from his prince and Taehyung got the message. 

“Stand back, go about your business!” He ordered, waving them all away. “You think we’ll be ready for business in Westray if you neglect the ship? Shameful, the lot of you!” The crew bowed their heads, successfully shooed away from the commotion with the nets. It wasn’t often that the captain genuinely scolded them, so this must’ve been serious business.

Taehyung sensed a sudden terse silence behind him and spun around, met with the sight of the merman, free of the net and up-close (or at least, the closest he’d yet to come). 

“Are you okay?” Jungkook asked the merman tentatively. Taehyung crouched beside him protectively.

The merman groaned loudly. “Do I look okay?!” He challenged with a hiss. Taehyung and Jungkook caught a glimpse of his eyes before they were squeezed shut in pain again and _woah_. They were round and sparkling, but more shockingly, the same color as the merman’s iridescent tail. Said tail was coiling this way and that in discomfort, but the movement was obviously unnatural at a point along the tail where it became still and unmoving. The merman lifted himself up on his elbows and peered down at his tail. “ _Fuck_.” He cursed before passing out cold onto the deck, eyes rolling up into his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I intended for this chapter to be even longer than it already is, but felt that it ended itself naturally at a certain point in a teeny cliffhanger ahaha


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to JJ ;) (because they're my only friend who kept their promise on reading my self indulgent vminkook fics AAAAND more importantly because I love them to the moon and back :))

The merman wakes up with a pounding head and a dull ache throughout the length of his tail. There’s the sound of water splashing nearby and he feels warm sea-salted ocean water rising to meet his skin. He opens his eyes slowly, lashes fluttering delicately as low lighting filters into his vision harshly. He squints until his head stops thrumming at the same pace as his heart and catches a glimpse of someone’s back as they leave the room with a large and empty bucket in hand.

The same boy returns minutes later, this time with a full bucket, handling it with care so that it remains as full as possible, but not spilling. This is nearly sabotaged as he makes eye contact with the merman and almost drops the bucket in surprise. “You’re awake.” He notes aloud, approaching cautiously. His eyes don’t leave the mermaids even as he tips the receptacle to pour more ocean water into the tub. “I didn’t know if freshwater was okay so I figured, just to be safe, we’d give you sea water.” The boy mumbles. 

The merman cocks his head at him curiously. _Considerate for a captor,_ he thinks. He doesn’t bother telling the boy that either would’ve been fine and opts to ask instead, “Where am I? Why am I here?” in a low, cautious voice. 

Jungkook tries not to stare too hard, but the merman’s eyes have changed to a deep brown and his voice is so smooth, quite a bit like Taehyung’s except higher in pitch. He blinks a few times, thinking about how to justify treating him like the wounded field mice he’d occasionally discover by the palace, taking them in, caring for them, and bittersweetly setting them free after they’d healed. The blonde boy in front of him was obviously not an animal at all, no, this was very different, and yet Jungkook had acted just as impulsively as he used to when he was just a young boy. 

“It seemed that your tail got injured when you got stuck in our net,” Jungkook starts unsurely. “I’m trying to take responsibility for that and help however I can,”

“How is this helping-- assuming I’d be okay with this, this-” The merman gestures around himself vaguely, noticing that there’s other things in the room other than the giant tub and recognizes that it’s a somewhat luxurious bathroom. “-imprisonment?” He spits out sourly.

“Firstly, you were unconscious so I couldn’t really ask your opinion on what you’d be okay with, but I promise you’re safe here. Secondly, I don’t see you having much choice, if you insist that you can swim with a tail like that-” Jungkook jabs a pointed finger in the direction of Jimin’s tail where it lays limp over the side of the huge tub. “Then I’ll carry you back to the deck and throw you back into the sea.” He huffs. Before he can stop himself, he adds, quite sassily: “And anyway this arrangement certainly makes it easier for you to follow us, doesn’t it?”

The merman gasps in indignation at being called out. “I was not _following_ you!” He stutters for a moment, interrupted by offended scoffs from himself. “Maybe technically I was,” He admits and Jungkook shouts in victory. The blonde cuts him off and continues, “but to be frank, you should be singing my praises for it! Your ship attracts so many predatory fish species, did you know that? They’re eating your little fish, I simply take out the predatory ones so you can have your tiny ones.”

It’s when he says this that the brunette notices the boy’s sharp canines and sits back a bit. “That doesn’t explain why you got caught in the net… unless you’re lying and you were actually _stealing_ our fish,” He accuses. 

The merman rolls his eyes. “You humans are so arrogant, _you’re_ just lucky you’re cute,” He says with a snarl and pointed finger. “We have a symbiotic relationship here, and if you don’t believe me then you should ask your crew when your catches started increasing this summer.” 

“Alright, alright.” Jungkook relents. That was fair enough, there had been more fish this summer than last and it was possible that could be accredited to the merman if his story was true, and Eunwoo becoming extremely lucky with the fishing lines all of a sudden was quite the alibi. Jimin raises his eyebrows, prompting the other to resume apologizing. Jungkook sighs and just like that, the argument deescalates. “Like I said, you’re not a prisoner. If you think you’re capable of taking care of yourself and want to leave, you’re free to.”

Jimin looked guiltily down at his tail, cringing lightly at the abnormal bend occurring two-thirds of the way down the length of his violet tail. Jungkook feels a twinge of sympathy, observing the merman trying to lift his unmoving tail. He frowns and cautiously adds, “Of course, you’re also welcome to stay for as long as that-” He nods towards the other end of the tub. “- takes to heal,” 

Jimin looks at him with grateful doe eyes and Jungkook thinks that they’re striking even when they’re not a shocking violet. “Thank you,” He says quietly, eyes averting quickly. “This has never happened to me before, but it shouldn’t take too long, I don’t think.” He counts himself lucky that he detached from his pod years ago, or else this would undoubtedly be burdening them. Now, he gets to just burden these random humans who are definitely unlike any fishermen he’s ever tailed before (pun intended). Speaking of which… 

“Do you have a name?”

Jungkook blushes, realizing that they’ve yet to introduce themselves between all of the heated arguing. He chuckles in embarrassment and holds out a hand to shake. “Ah, you can call me Jungkook.”

The merman is prepared for the handshake, having witnessed humans practice this on a few different occasions from when he used to people-watch on crowded beaches or cruises. Still, he’s tentative as he places his hand in the other’s, blushing at how it makes his hand look so small in comparison and at the firm grip of the other being. He takes mental pointers on the experience and nods, satisfied. As the self-proclaimed ‘Jungkook’ releases his hand, he introduces himself. “You may call me Jimin.” 

Jungkook smiles. 

Jimin hears someone approaching, detecting movement closer than the bustling deck far above them and the rooms below deck. No, these footsteps are following the same route that Jungkook had when he came with the bucket. Just then, a figure appears at the door. 

He’s a tall, handsome man with black curls and his eyes dart from Jimin and Jungkook, to back. His pants are similar to Jungkook’s -- dark and nicely fitted -- drawing attention to the length of their legs. Jungkook lights up at the sight of him, immediately drawing Jimin’s curiosity further. Jungkook is gorgeous when he smiles, and he does so brightly up at the man leaning in the doorframe. He turns to Jimin in barely concealed animation. “And this is the captain, Taehyungie.”

Jimin nods, showing his understanding. “Nice to meet you, Taehyungie.” He greets, bowing his head slightly. 

Jungkook’s eyes widen when he realizes the misunderstanding, but the captain only smiles at the merman and doesn’t correct the mistake. Jungkook doesn’t either, thinking secretly to himself that the name sounded pretty cute coming from the temperamental merman. Besides, the misunderstanding was his fault so he’d take responsibility if there were repercussions later (which he doubted there’d be any).

“Lovely to meet you, too…” Taehyung trails off, allowing Jimin the space to fill in his own name, but Jimin is distracted by his voice because _holy shit_ , it’s deep and melodious as hell. Jimin lives in the Atlantic, and if you didn’t know, it’s pretty deep there, so Jimin knows deep. He’s met sirens before, pretentious bitches they are, and imagines that they would be furiously envious if they ever had the fortune of meeting ‘Taehyungie’. 

“You may call him Jimin,” Jungkook teases when Jimin doesn’t snap out of his awestruck gaze, quoting the blonde.

“Oh, I ‘may’, may I? What, is he a prince too?” The captain asks, smirking.

Jimin finally pulls himself together. “‘Too’?” He repeats, in question. 

Jungkook smiles kindly at him, but there’s a hint of a grimace on his face. “Not really, I haven’t lived in the palace in years and it’s not like I shoulder any royal responsibilities.”

Taehyung scoffs and pushes himself off of the doorframe, sauntering over to sit by the side of the tub where Jungkook has been residing. “No, thankfully all of those are dumped onto your four stuck-up brothers.” He mumbles, raising his eyebrows at Jimin conspiratorially.

“Tae.” Jungkook warns.

Taehyung smiles innocently at the brunette and widens his eyes as if to say, _‘what? It’s true.’_ Jungkook rolls his eyes. Yeah, maybe it is true, but no matter how badly his family has disregarded him in the past, he still doesn’t like to speak ill of them.

Sensing the tension, Jimin speaks up and changes the subject. “Sorry about your net by the way, captain.”

The captain chuckles and Jimin and Jungkook both suppress a shiver at the low sound. “You can call me Tae or Taehyungie, Jiminie, it’s okay.” And then Taehyung is thinking maybe he should stop teasing the merman, but then his cheeks turn a dusty pink that goes lovely with the color of his tail and Taehyung throws all self-control out the window. “And we have plenty of nets, it was probably about time Eunwoo replaced that one anyway. Though, our head chef, Jin, is convinced the specific brand must be good luck or something with how much fish we’re catching.”

Jungkook tells Taehyung about what exactly was actually responsible for the fish increase. Taehyung goes quiet momentarily and gives the boy his full attention.

“You’re not fishermen though,” Jimin observes aloud before he can stop himself. He doesn’t mean to be rude, but it’s clear as day that that is not the situation with this boat, it’s covered in trawls but Jimin knows for a fact that less than half are used. He’s seen his fair share of fishing boats and the crew aboard this one barely practice any of the same activities that trawlers do.

Jungkook looks at Jimin blankly. “What makes you say that, Jimin?”

“The captain gives me pirate vibes,” He means it as a joke, but the moment he says it, he notices and recalls several things at once -- the sword fighting that was occurring on the deck, that being a fishing vessel would make a wonderful disguise, the copious weapons that decorated the waists and thighs of the crew, that Jungkook and the captain would look _marvelous_ in pirate boots, the looks that the two shared just after he blurted that out--

_Oh shit._

Despite his brief moment of concern, Taehyung takes it in stride. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

 _More like a sexy thing,_ Jimin thinks, happy to notice that the filter between his brain and mouth is back in business. Something about the (ex?)prince and the captain makes his lips blab before he can even consider the words that are spilling over his tongue. “Definitely not a bad thing,” He decides. “You wouldn’t be the first pirate I’ve met, but you’d certainly be the loveliest.” Aaaand the barrier between brain and mouth is gone again. Jimin mentally slaps himself, but can’t hold a grudge for too long because the laughter he elicits from the two in response is extremely rewarding.

~

Jungkook doesn’t have a job to fulfill while on the boat and he isn’t allowed to film videos for his youtube channel travel vlogs while he’s on the boat (captain’s orders) for safety purposes and Jungkook understands because obviously there’s some illegal activity happening on a _pirate_ ship. Unfortunately for him, they are currently way out at sea and in the process of crossing the ocean so there’s nothing to film nor edit. Taehyung has been relatively busy as of late, planning trades and calculating finances with Yoongi -- you know, disinteresting stuff -- stuff Jungkook doesn’t even know how to begin to explain so he doesn’t stick around for that. Tiktok isn’t even providing him with entertainment and the wifi gets iffy when they’re this far out, anyway. So, understandably, he’s pretty bored.

He figures that the only other person on the boat who’s not busy was probably significantly bored as well. Sound logic, right? Jungkook thinks so, psyching himself up to just _open the damned door_ in front of him, but for some reason it’s just so… intimidating. 

Taehyung enters the bedroom, searching for his glasses, and sees Jungkook standing outside of the ensuite just… staring at the door. Taehyung stealthily moves over to his side of the bed, retrieving his glasses off of the nightstand. He creeps up behind Jungkook and whispers directly into his ear, “Stare any harder and your telekinesis powers might just activate and open the door for you.” Jungkook jumps in shock. Taehyung takes advantage of the prince’s moment of weakness and pushes the door knob, swinging the door open inwards. “Oh my god, Jungkook, you did it!” He exclaims in mock surprise as the younger boy panics, smacking his shoulder while sending him a death glare.

Jimin watches the interaction in amused puzzlement. He smiles when Taehyung makes eye contact with him over Jungkook’s shoulder. “Taehyungie, Jungkook,” He greets cutely, beckoning them into the space.

“Hey sweetheart, Jungkook’s come to give you some company,” The captain turns Jungkook around so that he’s facing the merman and drives him toward the edge of the jacuzzi-tub, sitting him down onto the ottoman stool that sits beside it. 

“What about you?” Jimin pouts up at him.

Taehyung chuckles at the puppy eyes and pouty lips. “I’ve got some documents to sort out.” He says, hands rifling through Jungkook’s hair absentmindedly, hair at perfect reach since the boy’s head is at waist-level. 

Jimin nods in understanding and turns excitedly to Jungkook. He must’ve been going stir-crazy in a room with little to no stimulus compared to the ocean and looks elated to receive some company. Truthfully, he’s content being alone with either boy, as he finds them both so attractive he figures he could do a lot worse.

“You boys have fun!” Taehyung calls over his shoulder with a playful wink.

Jimin finds himself being accompanied for the majority of each day for the next week with Jungkook from then on. The two get along really well and Jimin is fascinated with Jungkook’s lifestyle and gets to see some of the travel vlogs filmed by the younger boy. He’s obviously never had similar experiences to the ones Jungkook’s documented and finds himself a bit envious, wishing that he could experiment with exoctic foods, attend festivals and carnivals, experience a multitude of varying cultures and interact warmly with strangers, etc. Above all, he admits he’s at least a little intrigued at the relationships that the prince has cultivated. Jungkook is charming -- not in the same way the captain is, but he attracts people with his kind and free-spirited heart like moths to a flame. He’s heard from Taehyung that Jungkook has the whole crew wrapped around his finger and Jimin doesn’t doubt it. 

Something within himself yearns for a family like that. He’d broken apart from his pod earlier than was natural, two years before he became of age in a mutual agreement that it’d just be safer for everyone else that way, especially after he hadn’t been able to protect his sister for the last time that his pod was willing to allow to happen. They’d gone their opposite ways almost directly after that. Ever since, he’d been alone, free to be as daring as he wished, the consequences of his actions falling onto no one but himself. He was thankful now for the opportunities that this allowed him. After all, he wouldn’t be sitting in a jacuzzi-tub aboard a pirate ship and surrounded by attractive humans otherwise. _Jungkook_ especially, he thinks to himself, watching Jungkook practice some stupid dance for his quote-unquote “tiktok”, whatever that was.

Sometime late one evening, Seokjin appears in the doorway to the ensuite, coming as no surprise to the boys since Jimin heard him approaching. He’s got two tupperware boxes under his arm, steam fogging up the insides, indicating that the contents are still warm. “Dinner is served, your royal highness,” Seokjin mockingly bows to Jungkook, passing him the boxes and a set of silverware wrapped in a cloth napkin. By now, Jimin’s caught on to the inside joke that Jungkook shares with the crew, that he’s the “majesty” or “royal highness”, but it had certainly been funny the first time he heard someone address the brunette as such, panicking that he’d been behaving offensively this entire time. He’d bonked his head on the side of the tub in his haste to bow too and had made everyone present so very confused. It was perhaps his most embarrassing moment so far.

“And what about his royal majesty Jiminie?” Jungkook prompted in pretend outrage, raising his eyebrows.

“Oh yes, good evening your fishiness,” Seokjin teased, bowing to Jimin next. “What are you two idiots up to today?” He asks, starting to stack up all of the empty tupperware containers strewn around the room into his arms, supposedly to return them to the kitchn.

Jungkook shrugs. “Same old, same old.”

“Oh, I see, I see, so just making out furiously while no one’s looking? Gotcha,” The raven haired boy winks and shoots finger guns at Jungkook. The latter boy groans in embarrassment, cheeks flushing slightly pink. Jimin however, giggles and laughs with Seokjin. The head chef of the ship has quickly become one of Jimin’s favorites out of all of the crew he’s met so far and he can tell that he’s like an older brother to Jungkook by the way that the two interact and speak about each other.

Seokjin slugs Jungkook’s shoulder, pitching the smaller boy forward a bit. “Why, your majesty, does the _captain_ know of your affair?” He gasps and strikes a scandalized pose.

“Mhm, he likes to watch,” Jimin says, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at Seokjin. Seokjin bursts into laughter when Jimin adds, “He prefers to join in though.”

“He’s a keeper, Jungkookie,” Seokjin remarks, cackling as he makes his way out of the ensuite and bedroom. 

Jungkook calls after him, “Which one?!”

Seokjin only laughs harder in response, leaving Jungkook to wonder in all seriousness -- _which one?_ He shrugs it off, choosing to ignore the dilemma and instead focus on dinner. Once he opens the containers and the smell of grilled fish wafts into the air, he knows that thinking about relationships is future-Jungkookie’s problem because this dish is _so_ going to be consuming his entire thought capacity for the next hour.

Jimin opens his mouth and waits patiently to be fed. Jungkook chuckles and shoves some rice into his mouth, then watches the blonde chew happily, the end of his tail swishing back and forth just above the water’s surface. “I wonder if you even need to eat the fish grilled.” He muses aloud. 

Jimin cocks his head in confusion. “I’m used to eating fish raw if that’s what you mean. It’s not like there’s cooking apparatus underwater.” He grins and mimics the motion of flipping something in a pan, remembering the popular cooking flourish he’d observed in videos he’d watched with Jungkook before Taehyung had caught and scolded them for using technology so close to water. Needless to be said, Jimin wasn’t allowed to watch videos anymore unless they were on the laptop and it sat far away from the tub.

“I guess not, but if you wanted to, couldn't you like, I don’t know, cook it using one of those underwater volcanoes?” 

Jimin stares at him blankly for a moment, lips slightly agape. Jungkook pushes a piece of fish into his mouth as he waits for a reply. There’s a silence as they both finish their mouthfuls and then Jimin speaks, “You’re lucky you’re cute,” he scoffs.

“What do you mean?” Jungkook pouts and Jimin squeezes his cheek, disregarding his offense to the statement. 

“How could I possibly cook my prey and not myself simultaneously? In case it’s slipped your mind, -” He waves his tail closer to Jungkook, the silky ends of his tail fin stroking the brunette’s cheek. Jungkook blushes a vibrant shade of red and watches as Jimin’s fin moves back away. “- I am also sort of a fish.”

A thought then occurs to Jungkook. “Isn’t it cannibalism then? To eat fish?”

Jimin sputters wildly and laughs. “We’re not even the same species, fish and I! Is it cannibalism when you eat land animals?” He retorts. 

“Of course not! But I don’t look like those animals either, the differences are so vast that it’s obviously not cannibalism!”

Jimin widens his eyes in shock at the implications of Jungkook’s words and they flash the same purple shade as his tail. Jungkook takes notice and gulps when he remembers what Jimin had said in explanation for his two different eye colors. He’d described it as sort of like the angler fish’s lure, a bright pretty thing for attracting prey when he was hunting. 

“And I look like a fish to you?” He inquires, eyebrows raised.

Jungkook averts his eyes with the excuse of setting aside the empty tupperware neatly. “I mean, wasn’t that your whole point a moment ago? You have a tail.”

“And what else? Where are my fins then, hm?” He locks eyes with the boy, then grips Jungkook’s wrists, surprising them both. Too late to back out now, and shameless as Jimin is, he does what he intended to do, demonstrates his point by pressing Jungkook’s hands into his pectorals. Jimin’s point is proven when Jungkook feels nothing but warm skin and a heartbeat with a quick pace matching his own, but Jimin continues. “None, huh?” He scoffs, trailing Jungkook’s hands upwards, around his collarbones and shoulders, caressing his jaw briefly, searching for features that both knew he wouldn’t find.

“What? _Fish_ -” He spits the word out mockingly. “-got your tongue?” He directs Jungkook’s hands downwards this time, brushing over his pecs again and down further to his abs. “Tell me when you come across any gills or scales,” 

Jimin’s hands lead Jungkook’s to wrap around his waist underwater, bringing their faces even closer than before. Jungkook finds his confidence when his hands meet each other behind Jimin’s back. “Fair enough, but you do have the lips of a fish.” He bites back sassily. Jimin scoffs, but his face betrays him and his eyelids lower, gaze dipping down to Jungkook’s own lips. 

They’re both leaning in, cheeks rosy, eyes fluttering shut, when there’s a knock at the door to the ensuite.

~

Seokjin walks into the kitchen balancing an abundance of tupperware containers in his arms. He’s somewhat graceful about it and it’s impressive as he places them in a stack by the sink in a single swift movement. 

“Where the hell did all of those come from?” The captain asks, eyebrows raised in amusement.

Seokjin comes to sit across from him at the long table and picks a piece of fish off of Taehyung’s plate, hand getting swatted in the process. “Those are all from your new pet fish. Jungkookie never returns my fucking dinnerware to the kitchen after it’s been brought down there.” he tsks, feeling a bit like a mother hen with how he cleans up after Jungkook sometimes. 

“Ah,” Taehyung says in acknowledgement. “And how is the resident goldfish?”

“He’s wonderful, seriously. Hilarious, joined in on teasing Jungkookie with me when I went down there to retrieve all of those,” Seokjin gestures vaguely behind himself and laughs at the memory. “That tail though… I don’t know, every time I’ve gone down there, he’s got it raised out of the water and it just doesn’t look comfortable, but either way he’s a trooper, always smiling.” It looks like a thought has occurred to Seokjin and Taehyung is immediately wary of the older boy’s gaze. Seokjin having a serious thought is rare and never good. “Honestly,-” 

But Taehyung cuts him off. “No.”

“Let me finish.” Seokjin gives him a reprimanding look and Taehyung decides to humor him for his own sake, unsure if suffering his suggestion or his wrath of not hearing him out would be worse. Besides, he has a feeling that he’ll hear it either way this time around, whether he wants or not (not). Seokjin huffs and stands, brushing his hands on his pants and reaching for his apron that’s draped over the seat next to himself and ties it. “You should spend some time with him. He’s a good boy, I really like him, and…” He shakes his head, looking to the ceiling in an effort to find the right words. He leans back against the countertop and crosses his arms across his chest.

The captain raises his eyebrows in anticipation.

“If you trust that I know Jungkookie well,” And Taehyung knows that he does. “Then trust when I say he’s getting attached to Jimin.” He finishes, using Jimin’s name for the first time in the conversation as it turns serious.

“I know,”

“It’s good for him, I know he’s been the new kid ever since he joined and so this is particularly nice for him… I think Jimin is a good friend for him,” Seokjin takes a breath and jumps into the deep end. “And I think he will be for you too.”

Taehyung looks up at him curiously.

“He talks about you and I’m sure that he and our little prince have discussed you on numerous occasions,” The younger boy looks as if he’s about to protest, but Seokjin insists and cuts him off before he can even say anything. “I’m _sure_ they have. Positive. _Certain_.” He presses, tossing a dish towel at Taehyung’s face. The captain, of course, deflects it, but Seokjin’s statements can’t be deflected the same way so easily. “If you value my advice at all, you’ll go join them downstairs and make an effort to bond with Jimin the way you both secretly wish you would.” Seokjin says pointedly and turns around to go fetch a kitchen hand, closing the conversation with a mature finality.

Taehyung values Seokjin’s advice wholeheartedly, the older boy having never steered him wrong once, wise far beyond his years. So he finds himself standing outside of his own ensuite, knocking on the door to either be accepted or rejected. Taehyung thinks that’s a lot of pressure for a bathroom door and wonders how his life has come to the point where he waits for a prince and merman to respond to him.

A voice calls out from inside the room. “Who is it?”

Taehyung answers with his name and hears a voice from within say: “That’s your handsome pirate, isn’t it?” Then louder, the same voice calls out, “Come in!”

He enters, leaning on the door uncertainly. 

“Long time no see, captain.” Jimin tsks. He’s leaning over the side of the tub on his elbows, and he and Jungkook are very close in distance. Jungkook reaches out to Taehyung, making grabby hands. The latter approaches him cautiously. Jungkook stands and pushes Taehyung into his seat, reversing their positions. The older boy wants to ask what he’s doing, but then Jungkook lowers himself into Taehyung’s lap and his nerves are miraculously calmed for the most part. 

“I’ve been-”

“Busy.” Jimin cuts him off. “We know.” Despite the shortness of his words, he speaks warmly, in a tone that conveys he understands. 

“I want to spend more time with you two.” The captain confesses.

Jungkook kisses the top of his head affectionately and Jimin smiles fondly at the pair. Jungkook hums and Taehyung feels the vibrations of the sound where their bodies are pressed together. “Make some time for us in that busy schedule of yours then.” Taehyung reaches a hand up to card through Jungkook’s hair, considering his words. It really is that simple and Taehyung had just been complicating things in his mind. The younger closes his eyes in contented bliss, leaning into the touch. His body relaxes against Taehyung’s, his frame a bit smaller than the older’s. Taehyung thinks that their bodies fit nicely together, interlocked hands and gentle touches filling the spaces left in between. He looks down and finds that Jungkook is playing with Jimin’s fingers in his lap. He also finds that he doesn’t mind that so much, thinks it’s sweet.

The comfortable silence lasts a while, Taehyung doesn’t know how long exactly, but Jimin is the first to break it. “Tae, do I look like a fish to you?” He asks innocently.

Jungkook groans dramatically in exasperation and Taehyung has the feeling he might be missing something. “Is that a trick question?”

The blonde shakes his head in the slightest. “No, please answer honestly.”

“... Jungkookie, did you tell Jiminie that he looks like a fish?”

“... I might’ve implied it, but Jimin will demonstrate how he’s definitely not, won’t you?”

Jimin looks at Jungkook with wide eyes, and the other winks at him and raises his eyebrows, out of Taehyung’s line of sight. Jungkook pecks a kiss to Taehyung’s jaw, then slips off of his lap to sit by his side on the floor, moving to give Jimin space. And, well, who is Jimin to say no to educating Taehyung?

~

Demonstrating with Taehyung is a lot different from demonstrating for Jungkook. Firstly, Taehyung’s got bigger hands, longer fingers, and aforementioned fingers drag across Jimin’s skin a bit more lingeringly than Jungkook’s did. Secondly, Jimin is a lot more timid under Taehyung’s heated stare and even lets him guide his own hands occasionally in his search for fishy features along his torso. Taehyung is thorough, runs a slender finger from shoulder to forearm, touch ghosting over Jimin’s skin, eliciting shivers from him. He runs the flat of his palm from Jimin’s waist upward. Then, from there, dances his fingertips further upward to his collarbone, brushing his nipples casually as they pass by. 

With Jungkook, there was the rush of adrenaline and first-time-touches. It was the sweet delightfulness in doing something entirely self indulgent and facing no consequences other than mutual pleasure. With Taehyung, there’s less of a hurry, and the touches are more savoring. They’ve got time to drag it out and build it up. They’re both entirely separate experiences, but can’t be compared nor rivaled by each other. Mixing the two together is the only superior experience -- imagine that scene in the beginning of Ratatouille where Remy tries the strawberry, then the cheese, then mixes the strawberry and the cheese; it’s like that. 

The experience is a lot lighter this second time around because both Jungkook and Taehyung are present. Jimin doesn’t quite know how to explain it other than to say that they balance each other out. Taehyung’s intensity is diluted by Jungkook’s natural ability to bring relaxation and peace. Jimin wonders what he adds to the mix for them, but decides to focus on other things for now. Like how Jungkook has moved to sit around the corner to where Taehyung currently is, behind the orientation that Jimin faces. He wants to ask what he’s doing, but gets his answer in the feeling of Jungkook playing with his hair. 

Where Taehyung thrives off of Jimin’s nonverbal responses and reactions, Jungkook loves the confirmation and validation in the soft noises he procures from the merman. Jimin hums lowly and leans his head back all the way to make eye contact with Jungkook, the younger boy’s fingers still tangled in his hair. They giggle at each other, but Jimin’s bubbly laughter is cut off abruptly when he feels Taehyung cup a hand around his long, exposed neck. Taehyung’s thumb gently rubs at Jimin’s jaw as Jimin slowly lowers his gaze to Taehyung. It occurs to him that the prince and the pirate are playfully competing for his attention and he smiles. 

This is something he can get used to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, this chapter is longer than the last two combined, I'm starting to sense a pattern lmao  
> I've got a pretty solid plan for this fic so I'll be updating the tags OwO keep an eye on that for some insight to future chapters if you want sdjhdkfjddjk  
> Hope you enjoyed! :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Introducingggg (drumroll pls) Hoseok!!! Our sunshine ^.^  
> This chapter is a much more reasonable length than the previous one, but somehow took longer to edit.
> 
> Enjoy :)

Jimin thinks that there mustn’t be anyone else left to meet on the ship after he’s met the doctor. Or, at least, nobody left _worth_ meeting because there is no way that anyone is topping the energy this guy gives off. He’s truly beginning to wonder if maybe this is a boat of sirens, all just some lucid dream that’s a result of their saccharine venom, and the assumption realistically isn’t so far-fetched considering that everyone aboard is attractive and charming. The doctor is bubbling over with positive energy, mouth constantly smiling, and he carries conversation easily and lightly. Jimin thinks the man would be perfect working with children, yet doctor is a fitting role too.

“So sorry it’s taken me this long to get around to you, Jiminie,” The man says, coming into the ensuite with Jungkook trailing behind him and carrying a black bag made of thick canvas. Jimin doesn’t even blink at the use of the nickname, it sounds so natural coming out of Jung Hoseok’s lips. He speaks to him like an old friend and Jimin appreciates it as it makes him a little less nervous about the ‘check-up’, or so Jungkook and Taehyung had called it. “Jackson somehow managed to break his leg when he was doing the laundry, but with him I’ve found it’s better I just don’t ask questions, y’know? So I’ve been a little busy with him for the past week, but I’m here now.” Hobi smiles brightly down at Jimin, taking a seat on the ottoman stool next to the tub.

“Jiminie, this is our resident pirate doctor, Jung Hoseok, but we all call him Hobi.” Jungkook introduces.

“Or Hope,” Hoseok adds.

“No one calls you that.”

“Ah, come here you brat,” Hoseok swats at Jungkook’s thigh and misses. Jimin hopes his poor precision has no effect on his medical skills. Hoseok holds out a hand and Jungkook gives him the black big carefully. Hoseok sets the bag across his lap and gestures for Jungkook to sit down. “Just for that comment, you get to be my little helper. You have to stay for moral support now.”

Jungkook doesn’t look all too upset by the supposed punishment and sits next to the tub, flashing a wink at Jimin. Jimin smiles, entertained by their banter and Jungkook’s mischievousness. The brunet holds out his hand with a graceful spin of the wrist and Jimin takes it gladly, plays with the other boy’s fingers to cope with his nervous energy. 

Hoseok smiles at the innocent interaction between the two boys, now understanding why Taehyung hadn’t shut up about the merman the past couple of nights that they’d had dinner together. He busied himself with taking out the otoscope and stethoscope and whatnot, and briefed Jimin on what he was going to do. Once the merman was declared perfectly healthy otherwise, it was time to examine his tail -- the part Jimin was actually nervous about. The blond’s fingers were no longer playful and now clung tightly to Jungkook’s. 

“Why don’t you tell me a bit about what’s happened with your tail? I’m not going to touch it just yet, but I think if you’d let me after we talk, I could probably help somehow.” Hoseok encourages gently.

Jimin takes a deep breath and begins rambling anxiously. “I got caught in the net and I didn’t have much control over my position so my tail folded upwards- which is fine, by the way, that’s normal- but then the net was hitting the side of the boat underwater and then I hit the side again pretty hard when the net was brought in because it swung against the side of the boat and the momentum was a lot greater in air rather than the water. My tail took all of the blunt and was bent at angles smaller than what’s supposed to be possible.”

Jungkook winces at the story, unaware of the events that lead to Jimin hurting his tail, though he’d assumed it had something to do with that damned net. Hoseok nods in understanding and gestures for Jimin to bring his tail closer. Jimin wants so badly to cooperate, but hesitates anyway. He glances over at Jungkook and shoots the boy a frown. “No offense,” He says to Hobi, “because you seem lovely, but my tail is already in a fragile state and I’m concerned you may damage it further accidentally. After all, how many merfolk have you worked with before?”

“Hobi is very gentle, Jiminie, I promise. I understand he’s a stranger to you, but please trust him. I do.”

And just like that, Jimin is complying. Sighing, he warily raises his tail up out of the water and onto the side of the tub. “Do you have to touch it?” The blond asks, voice timid.

“Not yet and maybe not at all, we’ll see. Can you show me where it hurts and tell me what it feels like?” Anyone can see where the problem begins along the length of Jimin’s tail, but as a doctor, Hobi knows that the pain beginning in a location different from the one where something’s visibly wrong can sometimes be the difference between short-term and long-term injury/recovery. 

The merman gives him a dumbfounded look, as if it’s obvious, and removes one of his hands from the tangle he’s made of his and Jungkook’s fingers and points to the strange crook in his tail that occurs one-third away from the fins at the end. “It’s like a… I don’t know, it feels like my tail is bent at an angle it shouldn’t be.” He shrugs, frustrated. There’s certainly a distinct feeling, but he doesn’t know how to put it into words. It stings sharply and aches dully all at once, which isn’t exactly distinguishing information.

“It hurts?”

“Yes, it hurts,” Then, Jimin turns to Jungkook and jokes, semi seriously, “This guy is the doctor?”

Hoseok laughs because he understands why Jimin is confused and a bit miffed at the questions he’s being asked. “May I touch your fin here?” He seeks permission, his hand hovering over the blond’s tail fins.

Jimin startles and there’s a splash as he maneuvers his tail to the other side of the tub in a flash of movement too quick for the human’s eyes. It’s still raised above water but now no one but the merman can reach it. “Absolutely not.”

The only time Jungkook remembers seeing Jimin this defensive is when he was first brought aboard, thrashing in a fishing net. He squeezes Jimin’s smaller hands that are within his hold to get the boy’s attention. The action works as intended, Jimin’s gaze darts over to him instead of staring Hoseok down. “Calm down, nobody’s going to hurt you. We’re here to help, remember?”

“I’m not afraid of him hurting me, it’s-” Jimin cuts himself off and blushes a cute pink.

Jungkook can’t imagine any other reason for him to behave so defensively if the merman isn’t scared of being hurt by Hobi. “It’s what?” Jungkook prods, his facial expression displaying his sudden confusion. He rubs his thumbs in soothing circles over Jimin’s knuckles, coercing the other to calm down. 

“Sensitive.”

There’s a silence while the two humans process. Hoseok is the first to get it. “Oh. Oh.” 

Jungkook bites his lower lip to stifle whatever inappropriate expression is struggling to cross his face, won’t be the immature one despite being pretty sure that he was the youngest in the room. Jimin seemed to be closer in age to Tae than he was to Jungkook, and the latter made a mental note to ask and confirm his suspicion sometime later. Now though, he’s occupied with remaining unreacting.

“If someone sincerely must touch it, then Jungkook can.” Jimin declares, swinging his tail back around to rest gently over the side of the tub, now closer to the brunet than the redhead. Jungkook stares down at it with wide eyes. He looks to Jimin. Then to Hoseok. Then the cycle restarts. 

Jungkook finally snaps out of it and asks Hobi, “What am I feeling for?” 

“Nothing, it’s not really about what you’re feeling, but if you could touch both sides, then the tips and the base, and Jimin can tell us what he feels.”

“You don’t wanna know what it’s gonna feel like.” Jimin says, then bursts out laughing, apparently only joking, but he’s made Jungkook nervous nonetheless. Jungkook follows Hobi’s instruction and touches Jimin’s tail for the first time since the day he got stuck in the nets. The fin fans out widely and splits into two different directions, just like in the pictures of mermolk in fairytale books. He touches Jimin very lightly, tracing the outer edges of the sides first, then prodding gently at the base of the fin, then finally touches the fragile tips of the fin. The whole thing feels impossibly smooth to the touch, fragile, yet strong. Jungkook involuntarily compares it to what he imagines fairies’ wings would feel like, and while the thought is a little childish, he supposes it’s most likely really accurate.

Jimin watches his movements intently, silently. Jungkook finishes and Hobi looks at Jimin expectantly. Jimin takes a second, swallows roughly, and clears his throat. “Feels normal.” He says vaguely.

However short, it’s all Hobi needs to hear apparently, as he nods and appears to have come to a conclusion. “Well, that’s good. It means you haven’t severed or damaged any of your nerves, and your bones are probably all intact too.”

Jimin sighs in relief.

“I’d say you’ve probably either sprained a bone or have an issue with your muscles, though a sprain is more likely. The effects won’t be permanent, and you’ll probably only need a short-term recovery. I’m thinking the minimum time you’ll need is around a month, but that’d be really pushing it. Usually, I’d splint the broken bone, but to be honest, I don’t know if that’s the right thing to do with a... “

“Tail.” Jimin finishes for him. “And no, we shouldn’t splint it, it won’t heal correctly if you do that because if the bone ends up in line, but in the wrong orientation or at the wrong angle, my tail won’t be as flexible as it needs to be. When this happens at sea, we have to stay put in a grotto or beach and let it heal on its own, it always turns out fine. I think.”

“That’s reassuring.” Hobi says, handing Jimin a red lollipop from within the bag. 

Jimin stares at it blankly so Jungkook takes it for him from Hobi’s hand and makes a grabby motion at the bag with his other hand. Hobi sighs and gives Jungkook a second lollipop and Jungkook grins, waving the man away dramatically now that he has what he wants from him. The redhead laughs and ruffles his hair fondly. “Thank you for treating my boyfriend.” He says mimics mockingly, waiting for Jungkook to repeat after him. Jungkook does nothing of the sort and instead, moves to whack his thigh.

Jimin bites his tongue to stifle a laugh that threatens to spill out.

Jungkook walks Hoseok out of the room, but stops at the bedroom door, intending to return to the merman in a moment. The older of the two sees right through him and doesn’t take any offense that Jungkook won’t walk with him the full way to the infirmary, thinks it’s cute that he’s staying behind with the merman.

“He trusts you so much. He’s imprinted on you, y’know.” 

It’s more of a stated observation than a question, but Jungkook replies anyway. “To be fair, I’m very trustworthy and loyal so it’s not like it’s a bad choice.” He says cockily, crossing his arms over his chest. Rather than looking big and manly, he looks like a proud child, a bright red lollipop dangling from each hand.

Hoseok snorts with a roll of his eyes and then Jungkook answers him seriously, voice a little softer. “But, when you think about it, he’s at the mercy of a bunch of strangers, and he didn’t have much choice about being here, so if I can bring him any kind of comfort, I’m happy to.”

“You’re a good kid, Jungkookie.” Hoseok wraps a hand around the back of Jungkook’s neck and pulls him forward gently, raising up on his tiptoes to give the boy a kiss on the forehead. “Call me if you need anything.” And as an afterthought, he adds, “And if Jimin needs anything. He’s a cutie.”

Jungkook chuckles. _Yeah,_ he thinks, _he is a cutie_.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> wherein taehyung confronts and solves problems unless they're personal and everyone is a lil scared of rejection, but the author refuses to use lack of communication as a plot tactic, so the issue is discovered and sorted within the chapter because we stan healthy relationships only

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's a schlong one, brace yourself and enjoy :)

It’s been two weeks since Jimin began his stay in Taehyung’s jacuzzi bathtub and Taehyung is already beginning to notice some consistent inconveniences to the arrangement. The main one being that whenever he or Jungkook bathes in the mornings or evenings, they have to walk throughout the entire boat to do so. Literally. The communal bathrooms are as far away as possible and sometimes Taehyung wishes he could’ve inherited a stupid fucking manor instead of a boat. That way, there’d probably be servant’s corridors to make the journey to take a piss or wash up just a little bit easier. But that’s not what Taehyung inherited, and admittedly, there _are_ upsides to owning a massive boat.

Like the reason for the complicated bathroom trips, who was currently lounging about in his ensuite, spending the day reading magazines created for “you despicable humans-- not you, Jungkook and Taehyungie, you’re my angels.”

Nevertheless, it’s an issue and Taehyung intends to address it. There’s a reason he makes all of the decisions on the ship and it’s because he doesn’t shy away from confronting complications. 

It’s Jungkook’s morning off and Taehyung feels a little bad as he beckons the boy over to him from where he stands by Namjoon on the deck. Jungkook doesn’t mind though, he absolutely flourishes under any kind of attention from the captain -- that’s easy for anyone to see. He skips over to Taehyung and wraps an arm around the taller boy’s shoulders, smiling up at him brightly in reassurance when he sees the captain’s unsure expression. 

Taehyung takes him by the waist and leads him down the stairs into the captain’s quarters. They make their way through the office and into the bedroom where they can hear soft low-fi music from one of Jungkook’s playlists emanating from the ensuite. Jungkook giggles when he recognizes the song. Taehyung leads them through the entryway, the door already ajar, and the two see Jimin laying across the length of the tub, facing away from them, the end of his tail nowhere to be seen.

“Good morning gorgeous, you just gonna stand there all day?” 

The captain and prince have no idea who Jimin’s words are directed towards, and maybe that should be strange, but it isn’t. Jungkook takes a seat facing away from the merman, back leaning against the tub. “Taehyungie has something to say, I believe.” He murmurs to Jimin. Jimin sits upright in a position that looks like he’d be on his knees if he had legs. Taehyung tries not to think about how simultaneously cute and hot that is and instead focuses on the problem at hand. “I do, I wanted to talk to you both about altering this arrangement because this isn’t going to work,”

Jungkook panics when he hears this and he and Jimin move as one, clasping their hands together and pouting up at Taehyung. Taehyung merely chuckles at their misunderstanding as Jungkook pleads and Jimin looks dejectedly up at him, waving his fin up out of the water behind himself. 

“Stop, stop, calm down.” He kneels in front of them so that they’re all eye level and he fixes his gaze from one to the other patiently. “That’s not what I meant, I’d never send Jimin away,” Taehyung ruffles a hand through Jimin’s hair, pleased when Jimin leans into his touch. “It’s just very inconvenient for Kookie and I to make trips to the communal bathrooms when the ensuite exists so that we don’t have to. I’m thinking that we just temporarily displace Jiminie when the ensuite needs to be used, hmm?”

“If you give me a towel and throw me on the bed, that could work.” Jimin pipes up helpfully. He realizes that he basically just invited himself into their bed and gives himself a mental high five for the accidental cleverness.

“Won’t you dry up?” Jungkook asks in concern.

“Yeah, but it’s not at all dangerous. I love to sunbathe and that dries me up all the time.”

“That could work,” Taehyung nods in agreement, amazed that they’ve come to a solution so fast. “How will you get from the tub to the bed though?”

“We’ll carry him!” Jungkook remedies easily. “He’s seriously even lighter than he looks,” He insists, gesturing behind himself to the merman.

Jimin looks affronted and Taehyung mindlessly reaches over to smooth out the lines on his face, starting with his forehead and moving down until he’s holding his face delicately by the jaw. It works, his touch relaxing the blonde, as well as adding a light flush to his cheeks. “Alright, great that that’s settled because Jungkookie, you need a shower and I know you skipped one this morning.” 

Jungkook whines at being called out, but knows not to argue because his hair really needs a deep cleanse right about now. He’s used to taking a quick shower about once a day, but getting a pet goldfish kind of fucked up his routine a bit. He grumbles that it’s Taehyung’s fault it gets so messed up and oily anyway. And it’s true, both know all too well that the older has a habit of playing with Jungkook’s hair absentmindedly at any given moment.

Taehyung ignores Jungkook’s complaining and smoothly transitions from cupping Jimin’s cheeks to lifting him out of the water by the underarms, Jimin squeaking in surprise. His hands scramble to take purchase on something and one ends up gripping the captain’s bicep, the other grasping at dark locks. Taehyung only grunts in reaction, banishes the thought that Jimin’s hands in those positions feel a lot -- and yet not at all -- like Jungkook’s when the two of them- 

“Towel please, baby.” Taehyung orders politely. Jungkook wraps a large fluffy white towel around Jimin’s tail as Taehyung holds the merman in midair like a giant cat. The towel isn’t nearly as long as Jimin’s tail, but it does the job of soaking up most of the moisture.

Taehyung sets Jimin onto the bed gently and promptly performs a 180 degree turn directly back into the ensuite. Jimin is confused until Taehyung comes back with his pile of magazines and he feels his cheeks heat ever so slightly. “Thank you,” he mumbles, taking them delicately and rolling over onto his stomach. The bed is comfy as hell, the duvet creating a plush surface that Jimin sinks into. He’s never laid on a bed before, but thinks this is a pretty good first experience of it. There’s pillows galore decorating the area just under the headboard and all of the sheets are soft and pale blue. Taehyung closes the door to the bathroom and joins Jimin on the bed, much to Jimin’s surprise. He’s been getting more time with the captain recently, but still doesn’t know him to the extent that he knows Jungkook. His presence simultaneously makes Jimin nervous and relaxed, so he’s not quite sure what to make of him. 

“Why do you like these so much?” Taehyung inquires, tone kind, as he flicks through one of the magazines curiously. Ever since Taehyung’s technology ban, Jungkook had managed to find some of Hobi’s old magazines and brought them in for Jimin to entertain himself with. The magazines had been a good call, Jimin was thoroughly amused by them. He seemed particularly interested in the fashion ones with lots of pictures, less so in the food, gossip, and entertainment ones. 

Jimin stretches forward, reaching his arms out like a cat does when it stretches. “I don’t know, but in this one,” He jabs a finger into the page in front of himself. “the theme is purple and this blouse would compliment my tail so well, don’t you think?”

Taehyung spares the page a glance to see that it’s a flowy iridescent top, a similar violet to Jimin’s tail indeed, but a bit more pastel. He hums lowly in agreement, but his eyes have already drifted to Jimin’s back, distracted by the abnormal curve it takes. His muscles resemble Jungkook’s inflamed ones after harsh exercise and Taehyung frowns, knowing how much a sore back normally bothers the prince. He reaches over to the bedside table and pulls lotion from one of the drawers. 

Jimin’s attention is drawn to the movement beside him. He watches the raven haired boy out of the corner of his eye, turning the page in his magazine nonchalantly. The bottle cap pops open satisfyingly and Taehyung pours a generous amount out into his hand, closing it again easily with his thumb and letting the bottle fall somewhere to his side. He rubs it in between his palms to warm it up a bit and moves so that his thigh runs alongside Jimin’s torso as he leans over him. 

The actions don’t go unnoticed by the merman and his tail pauses in it’s swishing back and forth. “What’re you up to, Taehyungie?”

“This looks painful.” Is all Taehyung offers in explanation as his hands sink down into the -- _yup, called it_ \-- tense shoulders of the blonde. Jimin’s brain and breath come to a complete halt as the pirate captain digs the heels of his hands into the muscles expertly, rubbing in smooth circles. Jimin’s skin is soft and warm to the touch. It feels sun-kissed, like he’s spent the day at the beach under the warmth of the big blue sky, the rays from the sun blessing him, acknowledging his preciousness by sparing him from burns. In reality, it’s been a very long time since Jimin’s been under direct sunlight, so Taehyung assumes that this is his natural skin tone and temperature.

The lotion is cocoa scented and Jimin’s not familiar with the smell, but thinks it might be his new favorite. “I manage,” Jimin chokes out, suddenly struggling to find his voice.

The other boy frowns. “How long have you been like this?” He removes his hands to push Jimin down by the shoulders forcefully, so that he’s now lying on his chest. The merman huffs when his body hits the bed, but cooperates, even tossing the magazine aside -- he wasn’t paying much attention to it now, anyway. 

“Ah, y’know. ‘M used to being suspended in water and swimmin’ around, now suddenly I’m stuck transitioning from the same three positions for who knows how long in a tub that’s who knows how small.” Jimin slurs his words a bit, relaxing under the talented ministrations of the handsome boy and sinking further into the duvet cover. As he speaks, he realizes it’s no wonder the bed seems like the comfiest thing in the world. He hadn’t really noticed how sore his back had gradually become until Taehyung’s hands had begun pressing the knots out. For the nth time today, he makes a movement that reminds Taehyung of a feline rather than a fish. He’s beginning to wonder if this is simply just a characteristic of the boy’s and smiles, amused by the irony. 

“I’ll make sure to do this often then,” He promises, sympathy lacing his soft tone. “Jungkookie gets like this too, you know.”

Jimin has long since closed his eyes, succumbing to the soothing patterns being drawn beneath his shoulder blades. He hums to let Taehyung know that he’s listening, and the boy takes it as his cue to continue. “His muscles can get really tense sometimes because he works out a lot, you can probably tell he does since his body is…” He drifts off, then picks back up elsewhere, letting his sentence hang. “I offer to do this for him all of the time. I reckon the two of you find immense joy in exploiting my soft spot for you both.” He teases. 

Jimin turns his head to the side and opens his eyes narrowly, squinting up at Taehyung with a smirk on his lips. Taehyung almost loses his breath and scolds himself mentally for going loose-lipped a minute ago because now he’s speechless. There’s rarely a happy medium between word-vomit and speechlessness when he’s around either Jungkook and/or Jimin. Nevertheless, and to his relief, he’s not the one to break eye contact first. Jimin’s eyes flutter shut against his own volition and he groans as Taehyung applies pressure with his wrist to his lower back. Taehyung winces at the stiffness of the area. He rises to his knees in order to get a better angle, caressing Jimin gently to keep him calm as he repositions himself. He uses his weight as a bit of leverage in an attempt to slacken the tight tension beneath his hands. 

Jungkook wraps up his shower, enters the bedroom from the ensuite with a cloud of warm steam following him out. He doesn’t speak, doesn’t dare to interrupt whatever it is he’s walked in on. The bond he feels with Jimin is undeniable and he was relieved to discover in the past few days that Taehyung also had some kind of flirty chemistry going on with Jimin too -- and walking in on this only confirmed it. Jungkook smirks, drinking in the intimate image in front of him shamelessly and sits on the edge of the bed.

Jimin is broken out of his daze by the sudden dip in the bed and gasps. He would’ve jumped too if Taehyung’s fingers weren’t pressed so hard into the dip of his back. He knows that Jungkook has finally returned when he hears the two humans chuckle in amusement at him. Jimin hears them exchange a quick, chaste kiss. His heartbeat quickens, he feels it in his head, in his veins, thrumming in the tips of his fingers, and he only prays that Taehyung can’t feel it where his hands are stroking up and down the length of his back fondly. 

“Mm, he’s happy you’re back, Jungkookie,” The captain observes aloud, letting Jimin know that he can definitely feel his heartbeat and betraying Jimin’s trust completely by exposing him to the brunet. Jimin doesn’t even have to turn around to know that he’s smirking smugly, can hear it in his tone just fine, thank you. He curses his heart for giving him away and he curses Taehyung for calling him out like that.

Jungkook, to his credit, doesn’t embarrass Jimin further. No, instead, he opts to move off of the bed, supposedly to get dressed, Jimin thinks thankfully. He relaxes again when he hears Jungkook’s footsteps move around the large bed, to the base of it, which Jimin knows is opposite to the closet. Jungkook startles him a second time when he clambers onto the bed from the bottom end instead of opening the closet doors. 

Suddenly something frigid is dripping onto his back and Jimin can’t suppress the high-pitched noise that’s thrown out of his vocal chords on instinct. He hears someone inhale sharply above him and figures it could’ve been either of them, though he doesn’t understand why. In the next second, Taehyung is smoothing over the liquid and spreads it across the full length of Jimin’s back, instantly helping with the uncomfortable cold temperature of it. Jungkook giggles evilly and Jimin immediately pinpoints him as the culprit for the extra lotion. 

“Just an artistic final touch by me,” the prince sings proudly, confirming Jimin’s suspicions.

Jimin adds Jungkook to the list of things he’s cursing.

~

Taehyung is not a whiner. He’s the leader of his own charmed pirate life, takes what he wants, says what’s on his mind, and doesn’t leave anything unresolved or with loose ends. He solves any and all types of conflicts swiftly and decisively. It’s one of his most attractive (and sometimes irritating) qualities and it’s one of the many quintessential reasons he’s the captain (among other details like the ship being his, _duh_ ). He doesn’t avoid issues, or bitch, or complain, or pout. 

Except for when he does.

Because he’s only human, okay? As great as this quality is, he’s multifaceted and can’t help it if he’d rather avoid a problem sometimes. Especially if the rare times he does struggle with confronting the problem is when it’s personal… and involves two cute boys… and also his dick… so you see, if anything, it’s actually extremely personal. 

Those consistent inconveniences he was analyzing? A new one is discovered (shocker) just over a month in. The captain’s sex life was being dangerously compromised by his new roommate, and if that wasn’t complicated enough, he senses rising sexual tensions between himself, his lover, and said new roommate. Also, the roommate is half-fish. So yeah, complicated.

He and Jungkook live a somewhat great distance away from the rest of the cabins on the ship, which had previously allowed them to be as loud as they desired. Now? Now, it’s difficult to find an appropriate time to be intimate with Jungkook because someone with enhanced hearing is just next door. Literally. And he’s a merman with a broken tail so he’s not exactly mobile, meaning he’s there _all the time_. Normally, he and Jungkook had the space to go at it as often as they pleased, which, admittedly, was quite often. Coupling this road-block with the fact that Taehyung and his boyfriend found the merman extremely attractive made the frustrations double.

This is a problem quite like no other and Taehyung doesn’t even know how to begin to confront it, much less remedy it. Turns out, he doesn’t need to because Jungkook addresses half of the problem before Taehyung really even has a chance to. In an unconventional way, but addresses it, no less.

“Tae?” Jungkook calls from within the ensuite. 

Taehyung and Jimin look to the bathroom door at the same time from where they’re lounging on the bed as Jungkook takes a morning shower. Taehyung shrugs at Jimin and enters the ensuite, careful not to open the door too wide because the shower is already running and he doesn’t want to accidentally expose the younger boy if he’s already undressed.

“You called-” The captain is cut off by a pair of lips on his own. He’s surprised, but doesn’t move away, waits for Jungkook to do so first. The younger of the two does so eventually and gazes up at Taehyung giddily. There’s a glint of mischief sparkling in his brown eyes, the same one he gets just as he’s about to directly disobey orders from one of the older crew members. Taehyung thinks he looks dangerous and beautiful.

He shoots Jungkook a questioning look but the brunet simply holds a finger up to his own lips, gesturing for the other to be quiet. He takes a hold of the Taehyung’s hands and begins walking backwards, leading Taehyung to the running shower. That’s when Taehyung notices that the younger boy is nude. Like, entirely. And Taehyung absolutely _loses_ it, has missed this so much, has missed _Jungkook_ so much, just wants him _now_. 

He takes the initiative, finally getting with the program, and Jungkook can’t suppress a giggle that’s probably muffled by the steady stream from the shower anyway. Taehyung throws off his own shirt and strips out of his jeans faster than should be possible with how tight those motherfuckers are. 

Jungkook steps under the spray of warm water, taking care not to slip, and wraps his arms around Taehyung’s neck, pulling him in to kiss him. Taehyung just praises the stars in the sky that his boyfriend is on the same page as him, that he’s far more clever than he lets on, and that his body is his to absolutely _ravish_ \-- and he does. 

They’re quick, releasing tension easily after repressing it for so long. After they finish, Jungkook leans on the older boy for support, closing his eyes and smiling dopily. Taehyung washes Jungkook’s hair lovingly as he waits for the younger boy to regain his sea legs, or so to speak, giving him a second to recuperate before they get out of the shower. They kiss softly as the shower gets shut off and wrap fluffy blue towels around each other’s waists, Taehyung pulling Jungkook’s off ‘accidentally’ at one point just to use the towel to pull him closer. The action causes Jungkook to blush and chide his lover, but his wandering hands and synced up heartbeat contrast his words.

They carry on this way for a couple of weeks, the refined system working relatively perfectly. During the day, Jungkook performs menial chores around the boat, staying aboard during the days that they’re docked, Taehyung does whatever the hell a captain does, and on occasion, Jimin gets to spend a few hours in the sun on the deck, sunbathing as he loves to -- much to the distant crew’s fascination and amusement. In the evenings, and sometimes the mornings, Jungkook and Taehyung steal away together to take advantage of the limited time that they have together in the middle of busy weeks.

The system works perfectly in the sense that Taehyung and Jungkook are getting laid, but it doesn’t solve their sexual tension with the merman, ultimately increasing the number of times that the two take out their frustrations with each other. So, maybe the system isn’t perfect and actually only encourages a cycle of unresolved sexual tension. Yikes. 

Jimin’s heard the whispers at night from the two lovers. He’s heard the fantasies muttered under the shower head, heard the constructive communication and deep conversations about feelings, and knows for a fact that the attraction and yearning isn’t one-sided. If Taehyung is too cowardly to fix it, and Jungkook has already tried his best, there’s really no chance of remedying the issue... except for when the aforementioned third party involved decides it’s his turn to attempt to solve the issue, putting all of his cards on the line. 

After all, his tail is completely healed as far as he can tell, meaning it’s time to exchange it for legs.

~

One evening when Taehyung and Jungkook exit the ensuite together, they’re met with the sight of Jimin seemingly asleep atop the blankets of their bed. The merman is lying on his stomach, facing the window as the sun sets into a beautiful sky of rich oranges and pinks, with the waves mirroring the colors. His platinum blond hair is splayed out all over the pillow cushioning his head, the light from the fading sun reflecting on it just right, giving him an angelic halo. 

Taehyung would think the image was incredibly innocent and wholesome if it wasn’t for his concern in the fact that Jimin’s tail has suddenly disappeared, or at least, he thinks it has. Jimin’s covered up his lower half with one of the many throw blankets that’s littered around the room to make the space more cozy. Normally when he’s done that, his tail peaks out from the bottom or the side, but today there’s no tail visible and the outline that his lower body makes under the blanket looks… different, to say the least. A heck of a lot smaller than usual, and by extension, certainly smaller than what his coiled tail should look like.

Jungkook seems to have had the same train of thought, or at least one of concern, and approaches the bed carefully, unsure if Jimin is awake or not, as the merman’s face isn’t visible with the orientation his body is turned to. Taehyung and Jungkook jump, startled, when the blond suddenly speaks, mumbling into Taehyung’s pillow. “I don’t think I stressed enough just how good my hearing is.”

Taehyung breaks out into boisterous laughter and Jungkook blushes shyly, refusing to meet Taehyung’s eyes. Taehyung apologizes to their part-fish roommate with an unabashed smile. “Sorry about that.”

“S’alright, sounded lovely.” Jimin responds, voice still tired and low. The other two boys are unsure of whether the comment is sarcastic or genuine, but aren’t left with time to ponder the matter because the merman abruptly adds, “I’m cold.”

The prince chuckles, relieved at the change of subject. “Do you want another blanket?”

Jimin nods.

Taehyung moves around the bed so that his back is to the window and he comes face-to-face with the merman. He smiles at him and says gently, “It’s not like you to get cold, everything okay?” He runs a hand through Jimin’s hair in what’s meant to be a comforting motion. He feels the temperature of Jimin’s skin as the side of his hand accidentally brushes against it and his hand stutters to a stop, startled. Taehyung’s smile falls and he pulls his hand back to feel the temperature of the blond’s forehead, then his cheeks, then his shoulders, touching each small amount of skin that’s left exposed from the blanket.

Jungkook notices the interaction from where he’s stepping into a pair of sweatpants at the foot of the bed and frowns in worry. “What’s going on, Taetae?” He neglects putting on a shirt and instead takes a sweater from Taehyung’s drawer for Jimin.

Taehyung mirrors Jungkook’s frown as he stares at Jimin and Jimin stares back blankly. “He really is cold. Colder than normal anyway, I don’t know.” The raven haired boy says unsurely to the brunet, guiding the other’s hand to cup Jimin’s cheeks.

Jungkook takes a moment to assess and shrugs. “His temperature’s not so different from yours and mine.”

“Sure, but think about how his skin is so warm normally -- hot to the touch the more that he dries.”

“It’s okay, Jungkookie’s right, I’m just attuning to your temperatures.” Jimin speaks up. Both pairs of eyes turn to him and Jimin blushes under the rapt attention from both of them. “This for me?” He asks, diverting the attention to the sweater Jungkook is holding. The brunet boy hadn’t gotten him the extra blanket he’d offered earlier, hadn’t put the sweater on himself, nor had he offered it to Taehyung who was still naked except for the towel so Jimin assumed it was for him despite how large the garment was.

Jungkook nods absentmindedly in confirmation, but remains still, staring at Jimin. 

Jimin sighs and understands that he’ll have to be the one to take charge between these two gawking idiots. _Cute gawking idiots_ , he thinks to himself, sighing. He makes grabby hands at Jungkook and the boy seems to be still stuck in his thoughts because instead of handing the sweater to Jimin, he lifts Jimin up from the underarms into a sitting position to put it on the merman himself. Jimin squawks in surprise at being manhandled and snatches at the blanket, pulling it back up around him where it fell slightly. 

Jungkook is distractedly helping Jimin into the sweater that’s way too big on him while Taehyung squints at the merman in suspicion. _Something is most definitely up_ , his internal monologue decides. Once Jimin’s head and hands are pulled through and Jungkook is cooing at how oversized the shirt is on Jimin, Taehyung pounces. “Your tail healing alright?”

Jimin eyes the black-haired boy, expression carefully blank again. “Mhm.” He hums vaguely.

Jungkook catches on to the strange tension and sits on the edge of the bed, not missing how Jimin’s eyes flash between Jungkook and his tail nervously when Jungkook takes a seat. The brunet begins to catch on to the implications behind Taehyung’s words at Jimin’s suspicious behavior.

“Are you sure? And what do you mean you’re attuning to our temperatures?”

The blond shuffles a bit, but doesn’t respond.

“Jimin.” Taehyung admonishes sternly.

Jimin’s brow furrows and he clutches the edge of the blanket in two small fists anxiously. He’s got the cutest little sweater paws happening and everything is making him seem even smaller than he already is, the large king bed, the blanket, the sweater. Jungkook half wonders if Jimin is behaving so skittishly because he feels small and inferior.

Taehyung doesn’t catch the nervous actions, but Jungkook does. He climbs up to the head of the bed and places himself on Jimin’s other side so that the blond is sandwiched between himself and Taehyung. He leans back against the headboard and throws an arm around Jimin’s shoulders in what he hopes is a reassuring gesture. “What’s going on, Jiminie?”

The blond examines his expression thoughtfully and Jungkook feels exposed, not because he’s shirtless, but because Jimin seems to be reading his soul. He’s so damn calm going about it and it only serves to unnerve Jungkook more. Tilting his head slightly, Jimin finally responds and says, “I’m sorry.”

The words are almost too quiet for the two other boys to catch, but they do.

“For what?”

“I’ve done something terribly selfish. Terribly.” He scrubs his hands over his face, the loose sleeves of the sweater falling down his forearms a tad. Taking the other two boys by surprise, Taehyung reaches over and fixes the sleeves, then holds Jimin’s wrists the same way that Jimin held Jungkook’s once when he was teasing Jungkook during their dinner and they had almost kissed.

“It’s okay.”

“You can’t say that, you don’t know what I’ve done.”

“I don’t have to. Do you know how inherently selfish humans are? Look at me, I stole this innocent boy away from his family-” Taehyung reaches across Jimin to ruffle Jungkook’s hair sweetly. “-just because I thought he was beautiful, and then I _kept_ him because he makes me so happy.” 

Jungkook nodded earnestly. “And I left my family because they were too boring for me. I had a life where everything was given to me and decided it _still_ wasn’t enough -- that’s pretty selfish, don’t you think?”

“But that doesn’t make either of us bad people, of course not. Being selfish is okay. Tell us when you’re ready.” With that, Taehyung kisses each of Jimin’s hands and tangles their fingers together. Jungkook rests his head against the top of Jimin’s and pulls the throw blanket up over himself in order to be close enough to cuddle and console the smaller boy. Jimin freezes in shock at all of the affection. He searches his brain and can’t quite remember the last time he was embraced by anyone other than the captain or the prince. He’d thought it was worth the risk, revealing himself for a shot at more with the two, but became nervous when he actually had to execute the plan, the fifty-percent chance at a negative outcome staring him down intimidatingly. He’s silent for a moment.

“I’ve been lying to you. I’ve kept _secrets_ from you.”

“Everyone has secrets, sweetheart, it’s okay. For example, Kookie didn’t know that it was me who watched the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man movies on his Netflix-”

“So it _was_ you!”

“Baby, now is not the time, I was curious, okay?!” Taehyung sighs and takes a calming breath. “You were right by the way though, man sucks.” He turns his gaze to Jimin, who looks more than a little confused and Taehyung just hopes that he understood the point of the example, even though the context seems to be lost on him and clarifies for him that “It’s just not good to keep the _bigger_ secrets from the ones you love and trust, y’know? But Kookie and I trust that you’ll tell us eventually -- when you’re ready or whatever. Do you wanna talk about why you lied instead?”

“Because I’m afraid that if I’m honest then you’ll… you’ll feel betrayed or take it personally. Throw me back into the ocean, move on with your lives, and we won’t be friends anymore.” Jimin tears up a bit at the thought and curses himself internally when the last few words come out in a slight whine.

Now Jungkook is confused, understanding being afraid of rejection, but not understanding what Jimin expects to happen moving forward. “Do you _not_ want to return to the sea?”

“I do eventually, it’s not that… It’s that I don’t want the sea to be _home_ anymore. My body is attuning to life up here… To the two of you. And I didn’t even ask if you wanted that first! How messed up is that? That’s not how it’s done, that’s not a culturally acceptable way to join a pod -- and yet, my psyche has already come to recognize you as my new pod -- my new family.” Jimin scoffs, frustrated with himself. He bites his plump lower lip nervously. When he’s met with a stunned silence, he doesn’t analyze their expressions, doesn’t wait longer for a response -- for rejection -- so he rushes out his admission, “My tail is healed -- good as new. So, if the feeling isn’t mutual, then I can be on my way.” He keeps his eyes trained ahead of him, on the soft purple fleece blanket covering himself and Jungkookie- no, himself and _Jungkook_. He corrects himself, considers that if rejection is the most likely possibility, he should start detaching now. 

It’d be ridiculous to expect the two boys to feel the same. Sure, they’d been nothing but kind to him, but Jimin had heard Jungkook say it himself so long ago after he’d met Hoseok for a ‘check-up’ -- he felt bad for Jimin, pitied his situation. If only he knew how things ended with Jimin’s last pod, _yeesh_ , he couldn’t imagine how the kid would frown at him then. Just because they were nice people didn’t mean that they wanted to take care of him and be burdened with him for longer than they had to, and that was the deal, wasn’t it? That Jimin stayed until he was all better, then they’d go their separate ways and-

His depressive spiral comes to a halt when he feels a pair of lips against his cheek.

“There he is,” Taehyung greets when Jimin’s eyes finally meet his. “You zoned-out, angel. Did you hear anything Jungkookie said?”

Jimin shakes his head, still quite rattled, but more grounded now that the two boys are closer and each providing him with more physical contact. 

“That’s alright.” Jungkook kisses his cheek again and rests his head there on the blond’s shoulder, speaking softly to Jimin. “Firstly, I’m happy that you’re all better and healed now -- that’s good news, I don’t know why you’re huffing about it. And secondly, I was saying that you’re welcome to stay, but on the conditions that you’re sure it’s safe for your mer-side to do so, and that you bunk in here with Tae and I.” He hesitates a moment, then adds doubtfully, “Unless, of course, you’re _really_ opposed to that.”

Jimin nods slowly, careful not to knock heads with the brunet. Disbelief and relief flood his system all at once and Jimin is unsure which to greet first. The emotions are unexpected strangers he finds at the entrance to his heart, much like the two boys sitting beside him.

Taehyung taps Jimin’s other shoulder in a silent plea for his attention. Jimin turns to him, calmed down, and now only a little dazed. He vaguely wonders if this is a daydream considering how smoothly that went. Taehyung wets his lower lip and speaks. “I have nothing against you staying, but I will admit I’m worried about you on the long-term run. Moving forward, it’s unrealistic to keep you in the tub. I never thought that tub was small until I saw you in it, you look like a goldfish being kept in a tiny salt shaker.”

“Well, I don’t think I’ll be in the tub as often anymore.” Jimin admits sheepishly, pulling the edge of the blanket up to reveal his small toes peeking out.

Jungkook gawks at him, eyes nearly popping out of his head. He tugs the blanket further, uncovering a pair of legs underneath the blanket next to his own. Jimin whines, stretching out the syllables, “Jungkookie!” and scrunches his body up to return to the warmth of the blanket. Jungkook tackles him, giggling in glee. He peppers kisses over Jimin’s cheeks and nose while hugging him tightly. 

Shocked, and a little puzzled by the reaction, Jimin looks to Taehyung for help, but the captain is looking at him with as much -- maybe even more -- delight and adoration in his eyes as Jungkook had. 

They fire a million questions at him, about how that’s even possible (how’s Jimin to know? It just is), if every merperson is capable of it (“upon the age of sixteen, yes”), if there’s a limited time for keeping his legs (“no, of course not,”), if it hurts to transition (“not… really… it mostly just feels weird,”), and so many more that Jimin can hardly keep up with. Jimin’s never really thought of it before, it’s always been _his_ normal, and thinks that this insistent interrogation must be why merfolk avoid humans and don’t divest their secrets. He gapes at Jungkook as the boy’s mouth moves a mile a minute, answering some of his more obvious questions by himself before Jimin even has the chance to respond. He’s speaking so fast that Jimin can barely give him one-worded answers in between each train of thought, but he and Jungkook both drop silent after Jimin gives out a high-pitched squeak and jumps.

His eyes dart down to Taehyung, lying on his stomach below them on the bed, and Jungkook’s gaze follows. Taehyung has grabbed Jimin by the toes and stares as if he’s never seen anything like them.

“What’re you doing? Go get your own!” Jimin kicks his feet and pouts at the raven-haired boy.

Taehyung gapes openly at the merman and wonders if he can even refer to him as so when he’s in this form. “Your feet are so small.”

Jimin frowns in offense, the corners of his plump lips cutely turning downwards and raises his chin petulantly. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Well, I just… Your tail is- was so long, but now you appear to be… really small. I- Kookie, back me up here.” Taehyung breaks off, pleading to his boyfriend.

“Mm, you are kinda small, Jiminie.”

“I’m not small, you two are just giants!”

Then, Jungkook is veering the conversation off track with yet another question. “How come you’ve never shifted before now?”

“Probably because it’s a merfolk secret!” Taehyung exclaims excitedly.

“What?! No!” Jimin flicks Jungkook’s ear to stop him from nodding in agreement with Taehyung, who is still clutching his toes like a fucking creep. Jimin wrenches his feet away from the black haired boy, tucking the blanket around his folded legs to prevent Taehyung’s wandering hands from grabbing him again and leaning back into Jungkook’s chest. This silences both boys, to Jimin’s pleasure. “I didn’t because I _couldn’t_ , not while my tail was hurt like that. That’s the only time shifting isn’t possible -- if my tail or legs are injured.” Taehyung and Jungkook make sounds of understanding and Jimin nods, once again pleased with the two. “Technically merfolk really aren’t supposed to shift in front of humans either, we’re way too vulnerable during the process, but…” He trails off ominously.

“But what?”

Jimin hesitates before elaborating, voice dropping lower in volume with each word, trying to disguise his embarrassment by being nonchalant. “I dunno, I guess I just trust you guys.” He avoids making eye contact by directing his gaze to the window, just to catch the last sliver of sunlight dancing atop the waves in shreds of orange and gold ombre ribbons. The bedroom has steadily gotten darker with the setting of the sun and soon it’s impossible to view the water at all because the lights from the ensuite overpower the remaining natural light outside and reflect on the thick window panes. He supposes Jungkook and Taehyung must’ve forgotten to switch the lights off after they’d left the room. Something shifts in front of him and he turns, coming face-to-face with Taehyung. The captain is no longer lying on his stomach and is fully dressed. Jimin supposes that this happened while he was caught in his reverie, admiring the sea.

“Are you hungry?”

Taehyung appreciates the sight when the brunet and blond in front of him nod in unison. The image of the two of them draped over one another so innocently, beautiful brown doe eyes and full attention on Taehyung, makes his heart flutter.

“Come along then.”

Taehyung stands and offers a hand to each, Jimin standing first to allow room for Jungkook to shuffle off of the bed. Jimin steadies himself on Taehyung’s strong forearms, standing for the first time in a while. When Jimin stands, Taehyung notices two things. One, that Jimin is wearing nothing but the sweater, though it’s okay because it’s so big on him that it covers almost halfway down his thighs. That’s probably why he’d been so attached to the blanket. Two, he and Jungkook had been right -- Jimin is _small_. Taehyung has a silent conversation with Jungkook and hopes that the prince gets what he’s trying to communicate with his eyes.

Jungkook appears to receive half of the message, observing Jimin’s height and petite frame, but misses the other half, which was a direction to be subtle about it. Taehyung wonders if maybe Jungkook _had_ caught that part and just couldn’t contain himself and opted to ignore his boyfriend because either way, Jungkook was _not at all_ subtle about it. “Oh Jiminie, you’re so cute!” He coos, lifting Jimin up and holding him bridal style. Jungkook gasps. “Your legs are so _soft_!”

It’s Jimin’s turn to gasp, surprise catching up with him. “W- Why are you doing that? You don’t have to carry me, I have legs now, I can use them.” Jungkook makes no move to release the blond and Jimin turns to Taehyung with a look of exasperation. “Taehyungie, help me.” He whines. He’s got a feeling that Taehyung isn’t going to be able to resist, and he’s right. Sort of.

“Oh, angel, I’ll help you.” Taehyung consoles him in faux-pity and Jimin falls for it, unsurprisingly. Taehyung had always been a good actor. He sends a meaningful look to Jungkook and Jungkook nods understandingly, passes Jimin to Taehyung. Taehyung realizes that Jungkook hadn’t been lying or exaggerating all of those weeks ago -- Jimin is light. He also sees what his boyfriend had meant about the soft legs. The skin of Jimin’s thighs is smooth and feels delicate where Taehyung's hand makes contact with the skin.

“That’s- That’s not at all what I meant,” Jimin waves his hands vaguely, looking between the two. “I’m hungry, why are we wasting time like this, hm? Just put me down.”

“I’m afraid we can’t do that Jiminie, sorry,” Jungkook sounds one-hundred percent not sorry. “You’re just too cute to be walking around on your own, you know?” He maneuvers himself around the two and retrieves some sweatpants for Jimin and a t-shirt for himself. “Spider-man wouldn’t put down the love interest, why should we? Or at least, Tobey Maguire wouldn’t.”

Taehyung groans, eyes rolling back into his head in irritation. “Oh my god, I was curious, let it go-”

“Never. I told you not to watch those movies because they are a sin to this earth and you ignored my warnings.” Jungkook narrowed his eyes. “I’m telling Namjoon-hyung.”

“You wouldn’t dare, you know how Namjoon-hyung feels about the Spider-man movies.”

Jungkook pulls the sweatpants up Jimin’s soft legs, fabric sliding up easily. He kisses Jimin’s nose and looks at the boy fondly. “Doesn’t matter because even Tom Holland is better than Andrew Garfield, Tae.”

“Tom Holland’s my favorite, I never said I enjoyed the Garfield ones!”

“Of course you preferred the twink, look at Jimin and I.” Jungkook scoffs stubbornly at Taehyung, then pouts at Jimin with his patented-puppy eyes that hardly ever fail to get him what he wants. “Jiminie, you’d never betray me, right?”

Taehyung laughs tiredly. “Oh my god, Jungkook! I was _curious_!”

Jungkook turns his back on a whining Taehyung and a thoroughly entertained Jimin to grab the door handle to the bedroom, speaking over his shoulder with an amused smirk. “And you’ll pay for your curiosity after dinner. Now let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we can (finally) have chapters taking place in settings other than the bathroom! Amazing, ikr. This chapter was somewhere over 7,300 words and still managed to move the relationship maybe a little too fast... but I have no self control or shame so djsfskjhf.  
> Leave a kudos and maybe even a comment if u liked pls 😔🙏💕
> 
> Also,, I may be posting another vminkook fic or two soon, whenever the first chapters are ready, so keep an eye out for those if you're interested :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took way too long, I am so sorry dsjkhfdks  
> There are way too many characters in this chapter, I will be keeping cast in chapters minimal in the future after this lmao, I've learned my lesson.  
> Hope you enjoy! :)

Jungkook leads them across the main deck, his shoes clicking softly against the strong, wide, wooden panels of the floor. Jimin can hear the waves crashing softly against each other and the hull of the boat far below them. It’s soothing, particularly when it’s accompanied by the sight of a full sky of stars above an open ocean. 

The breath of fresh air is as refreshing as it always is, yet it’s different from what Jimin’s experienced the past few weeks. The night air is colder, sharper, especially in contrast to the atmosphere of the day, where the sun shines down brightly upon those on the deck in an arc of warmth.

Their time outside ends all too soon when they reach an entrance and Jungkook opens a door and brings them back into the interior of the boat. Jimin sighs softly in disappointment and Taehyung glances down at him curiously, still carrying the blond boy in his arms. They follow Jungkook and the smell of something sweet and smokey. _Must be the kitchens_ , Jimin thinks, perking up in excitement at the thought of seeing Seokjin, and maybe even Hoseok.

He’s proved right when Taehyung brings them through yet another door, being held open by Jungkook, but is surprised to see the number of people who are sitting at the long table in the center of the room.The room is large and filled with stainless steel everything. He sees all kinds of things, recognizing the various appliances and tools from Jungkook’s ‘ _foodnetwork_ ’ shows. There’s fans for ventilation, sending a cool breeze drafting around the room and the sweet smells travel along the current of air.

Jimin turns to Taehyung worriedly when heads start turning in their direction. “You’re gonna set me down now, right?” He asks quietly, now even more embarrassed by his and Jungkook’s babying. 

Jungkook hears and laughs at Jimin’s plea. He grabs three plates, stainless steel, and sets them all beside each other on the table in front of a free spot on the bench. 

Taehyung pretends to consider it, eyes searching around Jimin’s nervous expression. He finally assents, nodding in mock-seriousness. “Of course, angel.”

Jimin’s sigh of relief is cut short when Taehyung doesn’t set him down immediately, and instead walks the rest of the way to the table and places him gently onto the bench, taking a spot beside him. Technically he stayed true to his word, but Jimin’s still a little irked by it. 

Jungkook takes Jimin’s other side, sitting between Jimin and a girl with gorgeous and long black hair. Jimin is silently grateful that he’s sandwiched between the two people he’s most comfortable with, considering that for a moment there he could’ve been sat next to a human stranger. How dangerous and uncomfortable would that be? Jimin shudders thinking about it, earning himself an odd look from Taehyung. 

Then, Jimin becomes aware that Taehyung isn’t the only one he’s receiving odd looks from. Though, he guesses that the rest of the table is probably staring at him for a different reason. _Rude nonetheless_ , Jimin thinks bitterly. _These humans may be pretty, all of them stupidly so, but they clearly have no manners if they stare like this at someone simply for being a stranger_.

“Jimin!” Hoseok exclaims. Jimin is immediately happy to see a familiar face. Hoseok’s smiling at Jimin from the other side of the table where he sits directly across from Jungkook. He looks a bit incredulous, eyebrows raised and eyes wide. “What happened to your tail?”

_Oh, right_. So maybe the humans were justified in staring. Jimin would blush in guilt if he weren’t preoccupied with looking down at his legs, and whipping his head back up to match Hoseok’s expression and say, “I don’t know hyung, I guess it healed into two legs!” He teases.

Someone scoffs down at the other end of the table and Jimin cranes his neck around Jungkook to see that it’s Seokjin, sitting on the other side of the girl with the long black hair. He’s clearly not buying the explanation, but Jimin is still proud of himself for messing with them despite how anxious he feels.

“You little shit,” Seokjin accuses, causing Jimin to break into a mischievous smile. “What the hell actually happened? Did you cut a deal with a sea witch? Hm? You still have your bratty voice, so I assume that’s not the case.”

“You’re so mean to Jiminie-hyung.” Jungkook laughs, scooping some greens onto his plate, then some onto Jimin’s. 

“Sorry, Kookie, but you _know_ we’ve warned him time and time again against cutting deals with sea witches. We all know how well that worked out for our red-haired friend.” 

Jimin gasps and turns to Hoseok in shock. “You’ve met a sea witch?!”

Hoseok looks just as shocked as Jimin and the whole table silences before erupting into amused chuckles and laughter. Jimin feels Taehyung’s hand come down to rest on his thigh. “He’s making a reference to a Disney movie about a ginger mermaid, don’t you worry about Hobi-hyung, sweetheart.” There’s a hint of fondness in his tone and Jimin blushes for the first time since reaching the kitchens. Taehyung smiles smugly at the flush coloring the blond’s cheeks and continues speaking nonchalantly, this time directed to Seokjin. “This is delicious, what is it?”

“Paleo chicken, like the chicken I made a few weeks ago,” _So that’s what the delicious scent was_. “I was able to pick up some more chicken and local seasonings at the port we stopped at for a refuel two days ago.” 

“I reckon Jimin will be able to get off at the next port now that he’s got legs.” Hoseok says around a mouthful of chicken. “He should come shopping with Irene and I, it’d be so fun.” 

The woman with black hair, Irene, nods pleasantly in agreement. “He should come along. I’ll bet he needs some clothes of his own now that he’s human, and who better to help him than Hobi?”

Jungkook, Jimin, and Taehyung frown simultaneously. Though the clothes Jimin’s currently wearing are a bit big on him and Jimin has had to have the sleeves of his sweater rolled up to even eat, Taehyung and Jungkook think he looks cute in a combination of their clothes. Jimin himself is enjoying wearing their clothes, finds it sweetly intimate. Jungkook is also a bit upset at the notion that the next time he goes journeying into a town that he could be missing out on the opportunity of showing Jimin around a human domain. 

Taehyung has a stroke of genius and Jungkook blesses him mentally for the way his brain works. “That’d be lovely if you two would take him -- would you mind bringing the baby along with you too?” He says, catching Jimin off-guard. _‘The baby’? Is he talking about Jungkook?_ He wonders.

“You know I’m happy to take Jungkookie shopping any day!” Hoseok reaches across the table to squeeze Jungkook’s cheek. Jungkook frowns, but stops chewing for a moment, allowing the action. “The four of us against a whole mall, they’ll never know what hit them.”

Jimin is happy when the attention is taken off of him and Jungkook when a woman with bobbed shoulder-length brown hair and doe eyes pipes up from across the table. “Make that five, I’ll tag along too -- but not for clothes. I’ve got to make a stop at Ikea. Joy had the marvelous idea of- of- how did you phrase it?” She asks, turning to who Jimin supposes is Joy.

The latter woman’s cheeks flush and she hiccups behind a glass of deep red. The brunette woman beside her removes the glass from her hands with a grimace and nudges her with her elbow to encourage her to speak.

“I was going to modify our bunk so that the beds would rotate.” Joy says shyly. “I saw it in a movie.”

“Yes, in theory that would mean you and Yeri could take turns on who has the top and bottom bunk, hm?” Irene says in mock sympathy. 

Joy either doesn’t notice the tone or chooses to ignore it in favor of building off of the explanation. “Exactly-”

“But that’s not what you did Joy, and now we’re stuck sharing a bed until I can get to an Ikea.” Yeri interrupts.

“As your room neighbor, I have to say that I don’t think either of you are as displeased as you’re claiming.” Seokjin said with a roll of his eyes. 

This time, Joy blushed. Yeri swiped her glass from in front of the other woman whilst she was distracted and pointed a long delicate finger at Seokjin. “Seokjinnie-oppa, you’re just jealous that Joy and I may move into a couple’s bedroom before you and Joonie-oppa do.”

Hoseok broke out into a delighted cackle and Joy covered her cheeks in embarrassment. Jimin looked to his left and saw Taehyung raising his eyebrows at his chicken, biting his lower lip in an attempt not to smile.

Jungkook cleared his throat. “I am very uncomfortable with the energy we have created in the studio here today.”

Seokjin reached around Irene to whack Jungkook’s bicep, then turned his attention onto the cocky drunk girl in front of himself. “Yah, Yeri, you’re on dishes tonight, just for that comment.”

“How come you never punish Jungkook-oppa when he says equally embarrassing things?” Yeri complained, pointing aggressively at Jungkook. Jungkook simply smirked and winked at Jimin. “I never get in trouble with my hyungs,” He whispered to the blond amusedly.

Hoseok jumped in to save the prince and redirect the focus to anyone else. “Notice how Jin-hyung’s not denying the thing about the rooms though-”

“Hoseok-ah, would you like to join Yeri on dishes?”

“I’d love to! Yeri, pass me your glass, I want a sip.” Hoseok stretched his arm across Joy’s front to take the glass from Yeri. Somehow, he was coordinated enough to make up for Yeri's drunken clumsiness, and together they managed to pass the glass without spilling any of the deep red liquid onto poor Joy who was caught in the middle. The moment is so bold and funny that it makes Hoseok Jimin’s temporary favorite between him and Seokjin. He wonders when he’ll meet the others that Jungkook admires so much, vaguely recalling several nicknames for who knows how many older-sibling figures in Jungkook’s life.

“In fact, I think we could all do with a drink. No offense Jimin-ssi, but coming to terms with merfolk being real and having one aboard the ship was perplexing enough, but seeing you with legs is a whole other story,” Irene says. She gets up from the table, lifting herself with pale graceful arms, and meanders over to a cabinet purposefully. 

Jimin blushes. It’s not _that_ big of a deal, is it?

“Ah right, when you got caught in the net forever ago, it was Irene-noona’s girlfriend who helped cut you free from the net with Eunwoo and I, do you remember her?” When Jimin nods, Jungkook continues. “Irene-noona and her girlfriend were the ones to help fill the tub with salt water for you, so that’s why you might not remember Irene-noona, but she remembers you.”

When Irene gets back to the table, holding several bottles of what Jimn recognizes to be wine, Taehyung speaks up to reply to her earlier statement. “To be fair, Jiminie says it’s something all merfolk are able to do.” He says as Irene pours herself, Hoseok, Seokjin, and an incredibly excited Jungkook a glass each.

Jimin is surprised to receive a glass as well and tentatively sips the drink. It isn’t his first time drinking wine, but it has been a while and the taste takes him by surprise. “It is!” He says in support of Taehyung's comment.

“How come I’ve never met a mermaid then?” Joy pouts into her glass. 

The table erupts into theories and Jimin remains quiet, letting them have their fun and listening to them all, knowing the real explanation is quite simple. Their theories range from wildly ridiculous to logical, all entertaining in their own way, and Jimin reckons that he’s beginning to like this bunch.

~

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about your sins, Taehyungie.” Jungkook warns. He drunkenly slams the door to the quarters open and Taehyung winces at the resounding crash that the door makes against the wall.

Nevertheless, he humors the boy and cocks his head, curious as to what his boyfriend’s ominous comment alluded to. “And what were those sins again?” He closes the bedroom door behind them, handling it much gentler than Jungkook had.

Jungkook’s weight shifts unevenly over to Jimin’s side as the brunet attempts to look up Taehyung. “... I don’t know, I forgot.” He admits, smacking his lips tiredly.

“The spider films.” Jimin recalls.

“Yes, Jiminie! Your spider-man sins. Taetae, you’re not a good boy.” Jungkook admonishes. He waggles a patronizing finger at Taehyung and gives him a disappointed face. Taehyung holds back a laugh at Jungkook’s disgruntled expression and shoves him into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

When they return from the bathroom, Taehyung challenges Jungkook’s drunken memory and resumes their conversation. “Oh yeah? What am I then?” 

“A bad boy, duh.” Jungkook replies easily.

“ _You’re_ being a bad boy, Jungkook, running your mouth like that. Get into your pajamas, right now.” 

Jungkook blushes at the unexpected harsh tone Taehyung suddenly used. “B-but I don’t wear them normally?” 

“No, but you invited Jiminie to bunk with us, remember? You’re not sleeping nude.” 

Jimin blushes. He may not know _everything_ about humans, but he’s picked up enough to know that Jungkook’s sleeping habits are enough to be considered obscene.

“Oh, right, Minnie!” Jungkook remembers, throwing his arms around Jimin, pushing the smaller boy off-balance. They fall backward onto the bed together and Taehyung sighs at their lack of cooperation. “Taetae-hyungie can you get the soft plaid pj’s Joon-hyung got me from Switzerland?” Taehyung obliges, grabbing the pajama pants from Jungkook’s drawer in the dresser, and to his quiet fascination, he realizes that Jungkook hadn’t been asking for himself, and watches as Jungkook delicately places the pair in Jimin’s lap. Leave it to the prince with the heart of gold to prioritize others before himself even whilst he’s drunk. 

“And now Taetae-hyung, can I have your blue dino ones?” 

Scratch that, Jungkook only prioritizes Jimin before himself whilst he’s drunk. He rifles through his drawer for a moment before he’s able to find his own favorite pair of pajama pants. He tosses them behind himself in Jungkook’s general direction and considers the throw a success when he hears a dull thud and undignified grunt from Jungkook. “You deserved that!” Taehyung calls over his shoulder immaturely. However, his smug smile drops when he turns to see Jungkook clumsily stripping in the middle of the king size bed.

To his credit, as salacious as Jimin is, he has the conscious to cover his face with his small hands and blush at Jungkook’s actions, the tables dangerously reversed.

“Jungkook, jesus christ.” Taehyung helps him change quickly and lays a hand on Jimin’s shoulder to let him know it’s okay to open his eyes again, then says to Jungkook, “You’re not drinking again for a while, I hope you know that.” 

Jungkook giggles at his mischief managed but abruptly stops with a hiccup when Taehyung raises his eyebrows at him. “I hope you also know what would happen if you weren’t drunk right now.”

Jungkook gulps at the implication and quiets down significantly. 

Jimin looks between the two confusedly, eventually choosing to ignore the strange tension in favor of exchanging the sweatpants he’s wearing for the soft pajama bottoms that Jungkook had given him. The new combination of the sweater and the flannel pants is extremely comfortable and Jimin feels the long day catch up with him so, stomach pleasantly full, eyelids growing heavy, he falls back to lay down on top of the silky duvet cover. 

“I think someone’s a little tired,” Taehyung chuckles. He places a hand on Jimin’s calf and rubs the muscle soothingly. 

“Yeah, me.” Jungkook grumbles, throwing his body back into the bed, his head hitting the pillows with a faint _whumph_ sound. Taehyung places a hand on Jungkook’s leg too, but Jungkook is disappointed when he’s not rewarded with a massage too. Instead, Taehyung is grabbing at Jungkook’s leg and pulling. Jungkook lets out an irritated and childish whine. “What?”

“Get under the covers, baby, or you’ll get cold later.” Taehyung says gently and suddenly Jungkook’s bratty attitude is gone. He scrambles up into a sitting position and moves the blankets out from underneath himself and over his legs. He pulls Jimin up and Taehyung helps him toss covers over the half-asleep blond. The pirate and prince simultaneously chuckle a ‘cute’ at the way Jimin curls into a fetal position, looking so small under the thick duvet, reminiscent of how they’d found him just earlier that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God willing, my updates will be more consistent in the future <3 Thanks for reading! Leave a kudos and maybe even a comment if you enjoyed :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, better time management between uploads <3  
> What better way to celebrate Dynamite's debut? 💜

“I want a job.”

Taehyung looks up from his laptop and meets Jimin’s eyes. He gives him an odd look, then directs his gaze back to his screen. He manages to send two more emails before Jimin interrupts him again.

“ _Taehyungie_ ,” Jimin whines, pushing the laptop slightly closed, Taehyung’s hands obstructing from him closing it fully. 

Taehyung doesn’t look up this time. “Why do you want a job?” Taehyung isn’t entirely sure what Jimin is asking, knows that he just asked the blond to get him a coffee from the kitchens and the boy hadn’t listened to him then. If he was feeling _really_ enthusiastic about helping, he could take Taehyung’s job of negotiating a deal with this annoying as hell cartel off of the coast of Colombia. Taehyung rolls his eyes as his inbox chimes with another email from the aforementioned thread. He breathes a sigh of relief when the email turns out to be from Yoongi. 

Jimin shrugs and slumps against the front of Taehyung’s desk, idly fiddling with a soft duckling paperweight. “To help out. I want to pull my own weight.”

“That’s not necessary, sweetheart.” Taehyung responds, grinning as he reads Yoongi tear this guy to shreds. “If I had jobs that needed to be filled, I’d have brought on more crew by now, but as it is, everything is perfectly taken care of.” He leans back into his plush leather chair and closes the lid of the laptop, concluding that the deal has been finalized. Speaking of jobs, it would seem Yoongi deserves a raise.

Jimin huffs and drops the duckling harshly onto the tabletop. Taehyung raises his eyebrows at him, waiting for him to speak his mind. 

Eventually he does, saying, “It’s just that everyone kind of has a role to fill and a purpose on board-- even Jungkookie.”

“You do too, yours is to sit there and look pretty.” Taehyung barely has time to duck before a stuffed baby duck is being thrown at his head with an admittedly good aim. He laughs and gestures for Jimin to come over to the other side of the desk. 

Jimin obliges, rising to his feet and Taehyung wonders if he’ll ever get used to seeing his boyfriend’s pet fish standing up on two legs. Said fish makes his way to the opposite length of the desk, and Taehyung props him up so that he’s sitting on the edge of it, facing Taehyung. The captain places his hands on Jimin’s waist and holds him there.

“Talk to me. Is that the real reason you want a job or are you just bored spending your days leisurely aboard my fine vessel?”

“I just, um.” Jimin pauses, looking down at his hands. Taehyung reaches behind himself and retrieves the duckling from where it’s fallen between his back and the chair. He hands it to Jimin to toy with, hoping to soothe the obvious anxiety of the small blond. 

Jimin takes it thankfully with a deep breath. “I overheard some things a few nights ago and it’s been on my mind. If you give me a job, then I’ll have to work with the crew, right? Get to know them?” 

Taehyung nods.

“Then that’s what I want. I want a job.”

Taehyung mulls it over. Puts two and two together, concludes that what Jimin said about carrying his own weight and having a purpose was probably to do with whatever he’d overheard, that someone had implied Jimin wasn’t doing as such. He frowns as he rubs smooth circles into Jimin’s hip bones.

“How about we start you off with rigging, hm? There’s a vacancy there at the moment because Seulgi has a fever. I’ll speak with Eunwoo, get him to teach you, how does that sound?”

 _Let him prove himself to them then_ , Taehyung thinks. Jimin has an attitude and an impressive will, Taehyung is sure that he can manage most of the jobs on the ship, cultivate specific skills, and shoulder the responsibility maturely. 

Jimin is capable. 

It irritates Taehyung that anyone might believe differently, especially when he hadn’t taken on individuals with shitty, or questionable, backgrounds aboard his ship, under his leadership, into his family, to be judgemental of one another. Jimin was more of a misfit than any of them perhaps, but that only meant that he should be treated with utmost understanding and care. 

Taehyung just wants to be supportive.

“Thank you Taehyungie,” Jimin leans forward to wrap his arms around Taehyung’s neck in a hug and Taehyung feels his heart soften.

Before Taehyung can even react, Jimin is pulling away and sliding off of the desk. He grabs Taehyung by the hand to pull him up out of his seat, but can’t pull him to his feet. He struggles for another second, then Taehyung realizes, “Oh, now? Right now?”

Jimin pulls him harder in response and Taehyung acquiesces, rising to his feet with an amused chuckle. 

He knows that Eunwoo is a safe place to start, him having been one of the first people Jimin met and trusting that Eunwoo was a good kid who’d treat Jimin with patience and kindness. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too bothered with the strange request, ‘Hey man, would you mind teaching our resident merman how to do your job? I promise he’s not replacing you.’

… _I’m going to have to work on that before we get there_ , Taehyung notes mentally.

~

To Jimin’s pleasant surprise, he recognizes Eunwoo. Less pleasantly, he recalls the embarrassing way that he’d gotten himself tangled in the ship’s largest fishing net and his rude frustration when the humans had tried to rescue him. 

Eunwoo seemed to hold no grudges and smiled warmly at Jimin. Now that Jimin was observing him without the concern of his safety in the hands of humans, he noticed a few things about the man. His dark hair was similar to Taehyung’s, and though it was cropped much shorter than the captain’s, he resembled him a small bit, especially with his shoulder-to-waist ratio. He's tall and unsurprisingly attractive. 

Taehyung speaks with him for a moment, making sure they’re acquainted and asking Eunwoo to somewhat mentor Jimin.

With a determined nod, planting his hands on his hips, Eunwoo turns to Jimin and asks, “So! What do you know about ropework?”

Taehyung takes that as his cue to leave, brushing Jimin’s back as he retreats back to the captain’s quarters. Jimin looks after him anxiously, watching him leave. 

Eunwoo picks up on Jimin’s unease and smiles in a way that he hopes is reassuring. “Why don’t I show you around the boat? I’ll point out all of the important lines and what they’re for,” He offered.

Jimin nods thankfully. This would be the first time that he would see the deck in its entirety, and he feels somewhat irked that it’s taken this long for someone to give him the grand tour, and it’s a stranger. 

“That’d be lovely, thanks.”

Eunwoo leads Jimin to the highest deck, the quarterdeck, and points out where the ropes lead, where they’re being held down, and their uses (some for sails, others for keeping goods held down on the ship or for moving goods in pulley systems). Jimin’s seen plenty of ropes and nets abandoned underwater over his years, but had never realized how important they were for large ships. 

His head reels, trying to retain all of the information, but Eunwoo takes it slow, and he’s a good teacher. His patience knows no bounds and Jimin slowly gains the confidence to ask questions and winds up learning about the ship’s history by the end of the day as well.

“Is that why Taetae’s the captain?” Jimin asks.

“What, because it’s technically his boat?” Eunwoo’s hand grazes along the rail gracefully as they stroll along the edge of the main deck. There’s a game of cards happening in the center of the deck, and another two members of the crew are counting shipment boxes with a clipboard to Jimin and Eunwoo’s right. 

“Yeah.”

“Well, partially, I guess. He’s been collecting us ragtag sailors for years, but believe it or not, some have been aboard longer than himself.” Eunwoo smiles slyly when he knows he’s captured Jimin’s attention.

“Really?” Jimin prompts, eyes sparkling and eyebrows raised with wonderment, launching Eunwoo into a story of years past.

“Oh yeah, for sure. Namjoon-hyung grew up on this boat,” and there was that name that Jimin keeps hearing. “And Seokjin-hyung was brought aboard before the captain was even born, you know. I’m not sure who, but I’m sure there’s a few others who have been around for just as many years too.” Eunwoo stops to hold the door to the interior of the boat open to Jimin. It’s the same door that Taehyung and Jungkook had carried him through on Jimin’s first night with his legs. 

“It may be the captain’s boat,” Eunwoo continues, “but what’s more important is that he knows how to manage it, and how to manage all of us. He’s got the heart to take in those who need a home, and the will to recognize what’s best for everyone and make it happen.”

“That’s what makes him captain?”

“To me, anyway, yeah. I’d say those are the important qualities.” Eunwoo nods decisively, then hurriedly adds, “Also, probably the fact that the captain’s kind of wild when it comes to swordsmanship and battle. If anyone wanted to commit a mutiny, which, I can’t see why they would, I don’t think they’d win.” He muses.

Jimin has a newfound curiosity to see Taehyung with a sword, or any other weapon, and asks, “Do we get into fights a lot?” He’s only seen ships battling twice before, and can only recall the first time rather blearily. It had been during a storm and his pod had been quick to usher himself and his sister away from the danger.

“Fights? You mean-”

“Like, confrontation with others, or with ships? I want to see Taehyungie with a sword,” Jimin blurts out. It registers dimly in the back of his mind that he’s very quickly become comfortable with Eunwoo and can’t find it within himself to be ashamed of his admission. Besides, who honestly wouldn’t want to see Taehyung in a sword fight if he’s supposedly the best on the ship?

Eunwoo brings them further down the hallway, past the kitchens, and Jimin wonders where he’s being led.

“Not that often? I don’t know what would be considered regular or irregular, actually. I was a fisherman’s son before I got caught up in a drug squabble and joined the crew. But yeah, anyway,” He carries on as if what he’d said is the most normal thing in the world. “If you’re curious enough, you could probably watch the captain practice with the prince.”

“Kookie?”

“Mhm. The captain’s been training him for the past year, wants him to be self-sufficient if worst comes to worst in a battle. They practice every now and then on the deck, early in the morning. We’ve all got some kind of skills, just in case.”

“What’s yours?”

“Oh, mine?” Eunwoo smiles deviously, jumping into a detailed explanation of his fighting style.

~

Taehyung comes to retrieve Jimin from Eunwoo when the sun begins to set and finds him practicing knots with the raven-haired boy indoors. They’re sat in the hallway of the dorms, legs outstretched in front of them, Eunwoo’s shoes flat against the opposite wall and Jimin’s feet not quite reaching as far, even with his boots. They’re making easy conversation and there’s a book laying between them, open on a page that reads _How To Tie An Ashley’s Bend_ at the top.

Taehyung thanks Eunwoo for ‘fish-sitting,’ earning himself a well-deserved smack to the arm from Jimin, then he and Jimin bid Eunwoo a good night and leave for dinner.

For the second time that day, Jimin passes the kitchens with someone else leading the way and wonders why he’s not entering. “Isn’t it dinnertime?” His stomach accompanies him in embarrassing support, growling in its hunger.

“It is, but I thought it’d be nice if we had dinner alone with Kookie tonight, talk about how your first day went. Kookie’s excited to hear all about it, y’know. ‘That okay with you?”

 _More than okay_ , Jimin thinks. He feels his heart swell at the thoughtfulness and a weight falls off of his shoulders knowing that he won’t have to put up a likeable front for any random combination of whichever crew members come to dine in the kitchen tonight. 

It was true that he was getting along well with Eunwoo by the end of the day, but he was exhausted from the social interaction and the need to be accepted by Taehyung and Jungkook’s massive family that was the crew.

“Is Kookie the _only_ one excited to hear about my day?” Jimin teases with a scoff, mock exasperation lacing his words. 

Taehyung laughs and winds an arm around Jimin’s shoulders. The action feels natural. “Of course not.” He says to the sunset. “I’m sure the noodles and soup would love to hear about Ashley knots too.”

“It’s an Ashley’s _bend_ ,” Jimin corrects, reaching up to swat at Taehyung’s hand that rests on his shoulder. 

Taehyung catches the hand, preventing the slap, and holds it within his own. “ _Aww_ , are we holding hands?” 

Jimin groans and suppresses a laugh, but doesn’t pull his hand back. Taehyung catches himself off-guard when he’s the one who blushes, ironically enough. He averts his eyes to their path ahead and holds the door open for Jimin. What? He may be a pirate, but he’s a gentleman too, damn it.

Jungkook is indeed excited to hear about Jimin’s day, and vice versa. They converse during their dinner over the low table in the middle of the study before heading off to bed and the three find themselves pleasantly content with evening, proceeding naturally, moving around one another in a way that suggests years of closeness in what is actually the result of only a few day’s rehearsal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shorter chapter and there was somewhat less vminkook comparatively, but I think it was still sweet 💜  
> And so, Jimin has some insecurities and begins the struggle of fitting into a family all over again, but this time it feels natural, less forced, not one-sided, etc. This boy needs some love but luckily he's got a lot of support, even if he doesn't know it just yet :,)  
> Please leave a kudos and maybe even a comment if you enjoyed! :)


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